If It Isn't Now, It Isn't Faith: Believe, Act and Receive
Dr RJ Sing, 34 min, Part 1 of What Faith Is
Originally recorded as “What Faith Is, Part 1”
Sermon outline
Faith is now: it lays hold of what God has said and acts on it, and it is faith, not pleading, that changes your circumstances.
Main text
- Mark 11:23-24
- Matthew 21:21-22
Opening
He welcomes the church family and viewers beyond South Africa, prays that God will send his Word and heal everyone listening, and asks them to fetch a pen and notebook. He introduces the subject of faith as something he is beginning that morning: he will explain what faith is and weave in seed faith as his example. He does not refer back to the previous week's broadcast, and he asks anyone who has never heard of seed faith not to switch off but to bank it in their heart until the revelation comes.
What is faith?
Faith lays hold of what is still only hoped for and brings it into reality by acting on the Word of God. It is always in the present tense, and its principles are the same in every area: receiving the Holy Spirit, healing, finances or anything else you need. We do not receive from God by hoping. Jesus never fails, so if it does not work the fault is on our side, because God does not change and prayer does not change him.
Illustration: He told someone that the Bible is not only a spiritual book: it is a book about doing business with God and with man.
“Faith is laying hold of the unrealities of hope and bringing them into the reality by acting on the word of God.”
- Mark 11:23-24
- Matthew 21:21-22
Believe and receive: believing is an action
He learned Mark 11:23-24 from two men of God, Papa Hagin and Kenneth Copeland, whose books he has read and whom he still listens to as a student. Believing is not only agreeing. It is believing and acting, and that is what causes results to materialise. Faith says it is mine and I have it now. It never relents and never looks back.
Illustration: Ask somebody, do you believe? They will say, yes, I believe. But it is not just about believing.
“Faith always says it's mine. I have it now.”
- Mark 11:24
Seed faith: believe God wants you to prosper
Taking prosperity as his example, he says one of God's names is Jehovah Jireh, and you should never doubt the giving nature of your Father. Whatever people have called you or however they treat you, you matter to God and every desire of your heart is important to him. God blessed Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by covenant and he still blesses his people, so be teachable instead of criticising those who preach faith and prosperity.
Illustration: Secular people look at men and women of faith who have houses and cars from a purely natural standpoint and criticise them.
“Your total prosperity is on his mind all the time.”
- Proverbs 26:2
Acting on the Word
Faith without works is dead, so healed people should act healed and the redeemed should say so whether they feel like it or not. Unbelief is siding against the Word and believing is siding with it. Satan will challenge real faith by pointing to your circumstances, but everything seen in the natural is subject to change. Get busy and act on God's Word rather than waiting for something to happen.
Illustration: The men who carried a man with the palsy to Jesus on a bed: the Bible says Jesus saw their faith, so faith can be seen.
“Real Bible faith simply says about you what the word says about you.”
- James 2:26
- Psalm 107:2
- Luke 5:18-20
- Matthew 8:17
How does faith work?
Without faith it is impossible to please God. Unbelief and doubting will not please him, and the only way to please him is by believing, speaking his Word and acting on it. Reading 2 Corinthians 5:5-10, he stops on the words 'we live by faith and not by sight' and says we make it our goal to please him.
“The only way to please God is by faith.”
- Hebrews 11:6
- 2 Corinthians 5:5-10
Who has faith, and who can use it?
The born-again believer has faith, and whoever is looking to Jesus can use it. 'Whoever' in Mark 11:23 includes you, and faith comes as the Word is preached. You do not please God by your own holiness. Right and holy living is good and must be added after you are born again, but it is faith that moves God.
Illustration: There were sinners in the Bible who pleased God and moved him by their faith.
“That's what moves God, is faith.”
- Romans 10:6-17
- Ephesians 2:8
- Mark 11:23
- Hebrews 4:2
- Ephesians 6:16
- Hebrews 11:6
What is it? A spiritual force and a law
Going back over 'just the basic elementary things', he says Hebrews 11 shows that faith is substance, a spiritual force, and Romans 3:27 calls it the law of faith. A law works every time, so our faith cannot fail.
“A law is something that works every time.”
- Hebrews 11:1-3
- Romans 3:27
Seed faith: what prosperity really is
He defines prosperity as having enough of God's provision to complete his instructions for your life, and says it increases your ability to bless others. People criticise prosperity preachers for what they have but never ask how much they give away, how many people they help and what it costs to take the gospel to every creature on television. A poor man cannot help you, but a prosperous one can.
Illustration: The questions nobody asks the prosperity preacher: how much money do you give away, and how many people do you help in the world?
“Prosperity is simply having enough of God's provision to complete His instructions for your life.”
- Mark 16:15
- 3 John 2
Wash your mind with the Word of God
The Bible defines God's purpose in creating us and his covenant to bless us. God promised that meditating on his words brings prosperity, and nothing will dominate your life that does not happen daily, so meditate on the Word every day. He says one of your great discoveries will be the principle of seed faith.
“The Bible is God's blueprint for mankind.”
- Ephesians 5:26
- Deuteronomy 29:9
Putting it into practice
- Do not stop at believing: act on the Word as soon as you hear it.
- Say about yourself what the Word says about you, spiritually, physically, mentally, financially and socially.
- Stay teachable about faith and prosperity, even where you do not yet agree, and bank it in your heart.
- Meditate on the Word of God daily.
- Settle it that prosperity is God's will for you.
Closing
He concludes that prosperity is God's will and that no one has to live in lack. He asks viewers to lift a hand or touch the television screen as a point of contact, binds the spirit of fear that has come with the virus, and speaks healing rather than praying for it, naming several people he sees by the Spirit. He then leads a prayer to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour and urges new believers to find a Spirit-filled church.
Declarations he led
- I am not moved by what I see. I am moved by only what I believe.
- Dear Lord Jesus, I receive you as Lord and Savior. I repent of my sins. I now believe I'm born again and a child of God. Holy Spirit, I welcome you to come live in my life. And I thank you for the blood of Jesus that washes me from all of my sins.
In his words
- “Now, faith is. If it isn't now, it isn't faith.”
- “Faith changes things, not God.”
- “I am not moved by what I see. I am moved by only what I believe.”
- “Unbelief is siding against the word of God. Believing is siding with the word of God.”
- “Real Bible faith simply says about you what the word says about you.”
Every scripture in this message
- Psalm 107:20
- Mark 11:23-24
- Matthew 21:21-22
- Proverbs 26:2
- James 2:26
- Psalm 107:2
- Luke 5:18-20
- Matthew 8:17
- Hebrews 11:6
- 2 Corinthians 5:5-10
- Romans 10:6-17
- Ephesians 2:8
- Hebrews 4:2
- Ephesians 6:16
- Hebrews 11:1-3
- Romans 3:27
- Mark 16:15
- 3 John 2
- Ephesians 5:26
- Deuteronomy 29:9
- Proverbs 10:22
- John 6:63