Transcript: Living By Faith
Prepared from the audio, so small errors are possible.
God's word is alive and powerful. It is sharper than any double edged sword. His word can cut through our spirits and souls and our joints and marrow until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. Join apostle Emmanuel as he takes us on a journey into the word of God. It is time to encounter God, be transformed by his word, and empowered by his spirit. I've titled my very short exhortation to you today, Very short, really. Living by faith or how to live by faith. Living by faith. It's gotten from the says, now the just shall live by faith. Everything in the kingdom functions by the principle of faith.
That's why the bible says the just shall live by faith. The bible doesn't say the just shall live by holiness. The just shall live by righteousness. The bible says the just shall live by faith. This is not to undermine the place and the power of holiness and righteousness, but this shows just how important faith is. And when the faith message is tampered with, then everyone who tries to be holy and tries to be righteous, all your efforts will be infertility. Because when the bible says the just shall live by faith, it suggests to you that everything you will do in this kingdom would be by faith, including your holiness, including your prayer, including the study of the word. Everything would be by faith. Everything about your life is hinged on your understanding of this faith message. You can't understand righteousness without faith.
It's impossible to demonstrate God's kind of love without faith. You know why? Because in Galatians chapter five and verse six, the bible says faith worketh by love. Faith working through love. So it's it's it's impossible to live the Christian life outside of faith. Without faith, you would not function well on your job, in your business, in your family, in your academics, in your finances, in your health, in your ministry. You can't even keep the devil under your feet where it belong without faith. Without faith, it is impossible to live a fruitful Christian life. Without faith, a man cannot prosper. Without faith, a man cannot the blessings of God upon his life.
Without faith, your life would be a contradiction of everything that is written in God's word. The bible says, the just shall live. If you will live by faith, it means they will die by the absence of it. And so why many people are in poverty today is because the message of faith is not understood. Why many people are in distress, why many people are in lack, why many people are sick is because the message of faith is not understood. By any means, you understand what I'll be teaching you even as we proceed. And as we begin to apply these things into your life, you will find out that your Christian experience will be the most rewarding you have ever found it. I tell you, I'm gonna try to be as practical as possible so that every man under the sound of my voice can know exactly how to apply himself in faith to the end that he get results so that we don't shadow box and just do what we think is faith and then wonder why it does not work. So this is an introduction of another series. Still on the message of faith.
That's prior to living by faith. In today's world, there is so much wickedness, so much evil, but it is only possible to walk in love with all men by faith. It takes faith to listen and not respond in bitterness when someone speaks evil of you. It takes faith to remain unruffled and still love those who criticize and despitefully use you. It takes faith to hold your head up and not let what you... What your critics say cause you to react negatively. It takes faith to wish love and to wish blessings on those who hate you, those who mistreat you. That is why the bible says the just shall live because the only way a righteous man will live is by faith. When the bible says the just, it speaks of those who have been justified, those who have been declared righteous, those who have been declared not guilty. And as long as you are a believer, then it is your lot to live by faith.
You will conduct your affairs by faith. You will go to school by faith. You will go to work by faith. You will marry by faith. You will make a living by faith. You will give back children by faith. You will go and you will be a good father by faith. You will be a good mother by faith. You will walk in health by faith. You'll be a billionaire by faith.
Because the bible says the just shall live by faith. It means if faith is missing in the context of your walk with God, then you will die by the absence of it. This is scripture in its plainest form. It means if a man does not understand what faith is, sickness will kill you. Afflictions will kill you. And a lot of us have not come to understand the fullness of the faith message experientially. And so a lot of what we do is just guesswork. If you have a sickness in your body and you know right now, you will know that it has gone. You don't need to go and do a checkup. You will know that it has gone right now.
I mean, if it leaves now, you would know. Can I see your hand up? There's anybody like that. Alright. You see the hands raised now. I'm... No. No. Don't worry. You can drop your hands now.
I'm not gonna pray for any of them, but I will ask them again after I'm done. That's the aim of the teaching. To make it as practical as possible so that by yourself. After all, it's called living by faith. If your faith cannot produce result, what then is the use of the faith? Living by faith. If your faith cannot pay us coffees, what's the use of the faith? If your faith cannot pay your house rent, what's the use of the faith? If God has told you you would school abroad, how do you think the money will come? Do you know how much the exchange rate is currently?
You need faith. And you will need to know how to walk that faith such that a man can live and know I'm expecting results. This is not guesswork. I'm not guessing my way in life. I'm not I'm not shadow boxing. It's not... There are many people who when they request and when they pray to God for something, they are only hoping it would work. They are only wishing it would work. God, please don't let me be embarrassed. God, please don't let me...
You see, when you understand faith, you will know faith does not beg, it receives. When you are here, when you are here, when you are here, when you are here, is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The substance of things hoped for. It means if you have hoped for anything, if you have ever hoped for anything, faith is what gives it substance. Did you see that? Or you didn't see that? It means faith is not hope. Faith is what substantiates hope. Faith is what gives substance to what you are hoping for. It means it is possible to hope, and faith is not in the equation of your hope.
Do you understand what I just said? The bible says faith is the substance of things you are hoping for. So it is not hope. So the... It means the mere hoping that things will happen is not living in faith. The mere expecting, being in hope, and living in hope. Hope is very important in the equation of faith because it substantiates what you hope for. It means you must hope for something. But if your experience of faith stops at just hoping for something, hoping I will be healed, One day, it go better. You've heard that before?
That is hope. It will never be better for such a person. It's not a curse. It's because that statement is lacking faith. There's no faith in that expression. One day, all will be well. I just know that this is just... Everything will be okay. Is it as pious as it may seem, as innocent as it may seem, as sincere as it may seem even, it is not faith. And if it is not faith, a man will die by the absence of faith.
The byproduct does say man shall live by hope. Man shall live by optimism. We live in a world of new haters who confess and who propagate positive thinking and optimism. They say be optimistic except for the fact that optimism is not faith. It means a man can be optimistic and still not walk in faith. So what are you expecting about the exam? Oh, be well. You can tell what he has is optimism. That is not bad in itself. But when the bible defines faith, the bible says faith is what gives substance to what you hope for.
Are you with me? Faith gives you every reason to affirm something is yours before you see it with your physical eyes. The bible calls it the evidence of things not seen. Faith calls real the things that are not observable. It calls them done. Now when you understand this definition, you know that what many people have is truly not faith. When a man walks and live in faith, I pray you don't just hear the things I'm saying. I pray that your spirit latches onto the things I'm saying. Because you see, when the word of faith is stopped, the spirit of faith must be caught. It is not enough to teach the word of faith.
The bible speaks of the spirit of faith. There must be a release in your spirit, a transference in your spirit that makes you do and become that which you're listening to. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. Remember, it is the substance of things, the evidence of things. There is a provision in this kingdom where men get things. On Sunday, I took time to balance this teaching so that you would not think that your full... Your old Christian experience is all governed around things. So there was... Time was taken to clarify this. However, this is not to mean that God has not made provision for things in the life of men.
The Bible says whatsoever things you desire. When you pray, listen. The evidence of things not seen. The evidence of unseen realities. I've not seen those things with my optical eyes, but they are real to me. They are so real. You can't take them away from me. The evidence of unseen realities. That means it is proof of the existence of something that is not tangible to the senses. The amplified version says, faith is the assurance, the confirmation, the title deed of the things we hope for.
I like that definition. Title deed, confirmation, assurance of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do not see, and the conviction of their reality, faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses. Faith, the bible calls it the title deed. If you bought a piece of land, you wouldn't carry that land with you everywhere. You don't carry the land and say, her, look, come and see the land I brought. You don't carry the land on your head and say, come and see the land I bought. Come and see the land I bought. Is that not so? Yes, sir. You have documents, and the name given to that document is called a title deed.
A title deed is a is a document containing or constituting evidence of ownership. If somebody requests for a proof of the ownership or for a proof of the land you have bought, you might not be able to show them the actual land, but you can show them the documents containing the proof of ownership that you own what you've bought even though the people can't see it as of now. So when you go to your place of work, you might not carry that land with you. And when you tell people I've just gotten the land, where is it? Do you expect me to carry the land everywhere I go? But here is titled it, the evidence of things you'd not see. Do you understand what I'm saying? The proof of ownership even though it does not yet appear. The land is real. The house is real.
The car is real. Ministry expanding is real. My marriage is real. My husband is real. My wife is real. My children real. Are you with me? The bible says there are things not seen, but they have evidence for them. The bible does not say things unreal. It says things not seen.
It is the same way a man can buy a land. Please get this illustration. If you bought a land in Ondo state and you are in a bad zone, you can't see the land. Nobody can see the land, but land is real. Unseen, but real. The bible says, listen to me, the spiritual realm as you call it, as you know it, is a more real world than the physical realm. The reason because everything you see in the physical was given birth to in the realm of the spirit. That's why the bible says through faith we know that the world was framed by the word of God so that the things which do appear were not made by things that are seen. Are you with me? So everything that you might be believing God for when a man walks in faith, faith does not expect that those things are about to happen.
Faith is the evidence that they have happened. It means when a man lives in a realm where he's still expecting the miracle, he has not started living in faith. When a man lives in a realm where he's still expecting the healing, he has not started living in faith. You know why? Because what you are living in is hope. Faith substantiates hope. Faith says, what you are hoping for, this is the evidence you have it already. This is the proof of ownership that is yours already. Faith is not in the realm of the physical senses. That is why the bible says, faith perceives as real fact what is not revealed to the senses.
It means my physical senses might not be able to see it. My nose may not smell it. My eyes may not see it. My ears may not hear it. But if I walk in faith, faith perceives it as real. You see, the only faculty that is possible or that makes it possible to perceive as real what does not exist in time is faith. Outside of faith, this is an impossibility. That's why a man who lives by faith is not guessing. A man who lives by faith is not merely hoping. A man who lives by faith is not even taking a risk.
Because you don't take a risk on what you have evidence for. Faith transcends the realm of reasoning. It transcends the realm of the mind because your senses still has to do with your reasoning. It means you might not be able to reason it out with your senses, but if it is faith that is an operation, it transcends the realm of reasoning. It transcends the realm of your senses. Faith is an attribute of the human spirit. That's why I like to define faith as the response of the human spirit to the word of God. And I'll get there very soon. If you were to define faith in Hebrews eleven one, in today's English version, you would say to have faith is to be sure of the things that we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. Therefore, faith is not just an irrational leap in the dark.
Faith is a leap on God's word. It is believing what God's word says about everything and acting in that way. Are you with me? It is important to establish at this junction that there's a difference between faith and believing. There's a difference between faith and hope, faith and optimism, faith and believing. Many people don't understand the difference, but there is a difference. Someone who is suffering from a form of sickness might cry, oh, God help me. Oh, God heal me. God, I really know you can do it. God, please help me.
God, please heal me. And then they they truly they truly cry to God to help them and to heal them from their hearts. And you see, when that thing does not happen and the preacher tells them, are you in faith? The person says that there was... If there was ever a time I was in faith, it was when I was sick. And I cried to God for help, and the believer does not know that what he was exercising was not really faith. He was believing. Are you with me? Faith is the corresponding action to what you believe. I said earlier that faith is the response of the human spirit to the word of God.
It means if it is faith, there must be a response. Remember I said earlier that if you buy a land somewhere, you don't carry that land everywhere, but you have a title deed, an evidence, a proof of ownership that the land is yours. And because land is yours, you start taking action as to how to build on that land because you have the evidence. Are you with me? That is exactly how faith works. Faith doesn't just believe in the reality. It takes action as a proof of the belief. The action is not forced. The action is revelational. Many people hacked trying to believe.
Oh, no. When it is faith, you hacked because you have believed. Did he already said? When it is faith, you do what? Do you get the difference? You don't have trying to believe. You act because you have believed. So there's a way a sick man who is in a wheelchair wants to see if he will walk. So he wants to use his faith. So he wants to see.
So he tries to put his leg down. He's acting trying to believe. There's a way another man works because he has believed. In other words, my attention to work right now is not because I'm trying to believe. It's because I understand that I've received my healing already. And as such, I take an action knowing that that healing is already mine. This is what the bible is trying to define for us in Hebrews 11 verse one. This thing is so simple, so simple. But if not understood, your Christian experience will be very barren. Are you with me?
Yes, sir. Thank you, Jesus. When such a man declares, I am healed, it won't be on the strength of his feelings. It will be because he has seen it in the word of God. When you purchase a thing, they give you a receipt. The receipt becomes the proof of ownership that what you have purchased is yours. So if any man tries to dispute with you that what you purchased is not yours, you can show them the receipt as the evidence of what you have purchased. The receipt from whence your faith rests upon is the word of God. It is the evidence of the things you have received. It means if I see it in the word of God, the word of God is the evidence that I've received it.
Not that I'm going to receive it, but that it is mine already. You don't give a receipt to someone who has not paid. It means if a receipt was offered to you, it's because the price has been fully paid for. Do you understand what I'm saying? That is why the receipt was given to you in the in the fourth instance. It means if I look into the word of God and see and things there that should be mine, it is because the price has been paid. And so those things that I see are my realities in Christ. They belong to me. They are not going to be mine. They are already mine.
They are paid for. And because I know they are paid for, I begin to take action based on the things that I know are paid for. So when we tell people to do what they could not do when they are sick, it's not merely an instruction that comes from an anointed man of God. It is how any sick man becomes healed. Can we do James chapter two and verse 14 in the New Living Translation? Do you have the CEV? What good is it there, brothers and sisters? If you say you have faith, but you don't show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Next verse.
Please be fast. Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say goodbye and have a good day. Stay warm and eat well. But then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So see, faith by itself isn't enough unless it produces good results. It doesn't produce good results, it is dead and it is useless. 21 down to verse 24. The bible says, but don't you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. You see, his faith and his actions worked together.
His actions made his faith complete. It means without action, faith is incomplete. And so it happened just as the scripture say, Abraham believed God and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. You see, God counted him as righteous. Why? Not because of his belief. The bible says on account of his faith, God even called him the friend of God. Next verse, it says, so you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by believing alone. Do you understand what I just said now? Not by believing alone.
It means if faith does not have a corresponding action to show that I know whom I've believed and I'm persuaded. So when I know that by his stripes, was healed and I feel a symptom in my body, I don't try to do what I cannot do or what I could not do, trying to believe or emotionally trying to steer myself. No. It comes from a place of deep rooted conviction on the finished works of Christ that my sickness, the depth and the price of my sickness has been paid for. And because I know it has been paid for, I I I do what I could not do. I exercise myself. So I stand over and begin to walk. Remember, faith perceives as real. What is not real to the senses, it means that there might be pain even as I attempt to walk, but I still do what I could not do regardless. That's why the only faculty that is possible of achieving this is faith.
The human mind is limited when it comes to this. So human mind will factor in the pain, the lack of resources, the absence of capital. But when the man begins to act on faith, he'll begin to make steps on his business even without a capital. He might have no idea where the ministry or where the finances for the crusade will come from, but you see, it begins to take step on planning for a crusade. You know why? Because God had instructed him to do so. The instruction that God has given him is evidence enough that those things have happened because God speaks from completed to time. It means if God ever says go and do something, it is because that thing has been done. You didn't hear what I just said. You didn't hear what I just said.
Oh, my. You didn't hear what I just said. Many of you don't know that your life began before you were formed in your mother's womb. Many of you don't know that you started living from eternity. Because the bible says that before you were formed in your mother's womb, I knew you. It means many of the problems of humanity began in your mother's womb. In the realm of God, everything was perfect. You were a perfect creation. But the moment you were introduced into time based on the falling nature of man, iniquity, sin, and all these things have introduced sickness, poverty, afflictions, and all kinds of things that can serve as a deviation to what has already been perfect in eternity. So when Jesus diagnosed...
When the bible rather was diagnosing the condition of that lame man, the bible says he has been lame from his mother's womb. It means the problem began while he was introduced into time. And that is a possibility because the bible says in iniquity, did my mother conceive me? It means everything better than in iniquity is exposed to sin. Everything exposed to sin is exposed to everything that accompanies sin. That's why when that man came to Christ, Christ told him that your problem is that you were born wrong. Another person would need to be introduced. He called it... You will need to be born again, born of the spirit. And the moment a man is born of the spirit, something happens to that man.
Something that goes with that man. Romans 12 verse three. The bible says, for I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think... KJV please is the scripture that captured it well. Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly according as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. Did you see that? He didn't see it. He didn't see it. He didn't see it. The Bible is so interesting.
That when you begin to study this... The Bible and you believe it in his essence, the things that become your reality, oh my. Do you know that when I was a child, a baby, I had an affliction as a as a child growing. I don't think I was 10 years old. I wasn't up till I was probably five, six, seven. And my eyes will become red. If you ever caught me as a child, you would see my two hands, my two fingers on my eyes, and I'm scratching and itching, and they will be red. The reason is because I would feel a sharp pain, almost as though someone is putting a pin in the eyes. And I went to the Auspice hall, and they conducted a kind of test. And they gave my mother a list of food I must never touch because they said I had glaucoma.
It wasn't only glaucoma, in fact. They gave other recommendations. They gave hydrops. And as a little baby, I started using hydrops. When I was old enough, they prescribed glasses. And they said that there was a possibility that the eyes would go blind before he's training. So these tests must be taken. He and peradventure, he stops using the glasses or stops taking the eye drops, then the decline would happen faster than we expect. Well, I don't take eye drops. I don't use the glasses.
And my eyes are sharper than those who use. And I'm way above 20. And I stopped doing this on many years ago. I had a glasses I was using. I found something in scripture that I did. You see, there are many people who have broken their glasses because they heard a sermon like this and they broke it out of hope. They were hoping. That's why you don't just take action foolishly. The action is better from a settled confident of what the word of God says, not because you are trying to make something happen. And you think if I just force myself, I will force the hand of God.
We are not acting to force the hand of God. We are acting because we have received. We are acting because there is already a receipt for what has been given, what has been... Are you getting what I'm saying? The problem with that child was because he was he was born wrong. The moment he was formed in his mother's womb, when God made that child, God did not make that child sick. God in in eternity, there was no affliction in his eyes. There was no affliction in his legs, but the moment he was introduced into the mother's womb and in iniquity was he conceived and sin and poverty and death and all these things can find expression. But when a man becomes saved, the bible says according as God has dealt to every man the measure of it. The measure, not a measure.
The word used there is the measure. Every man, the measure of faith. It means every man has faith. And that faith is God given. If you are born again, you have faith. You have the measure of faith. Not a measure, but the measure of faith. Every Christian has faith. And it is called the measure of faith because we have the same amount of faith. The bible called it the...
Not a measure. If it was a measure, then God would have married everybody differently. It is the measure of it he gave to every man, the measure of it. Are you with me? It means every believer when you became born again had the measure of faith. The same measure of faith. If you are a Christian, you have faith. It means what every man now needs to do is to grow the measure that was given to them. Because faith is given to you. Can somebody say faith has been given to me?
Say, I have faith. I have faith. Declare boldly, have faith. I have faith. When you are born again, have faith. God imparts into your spirit the measure of faith. However, that measure is given to you small. God doesn't give you big faith. He gives you little faith to enable you to grow your faith. It's your responsibility to build that faith to become something strong.
I'm gonna be dealing with that very soon. Maybe not today. I will show you the the four classifications of faith that the bible mentions. When you read your bible, you find four classifications of faith. You find two kinds of faith. I will deal with all these things. So I'm saying that God has already given to you the measure of faith. Now somebody might say that, oh, that's the reason why my faith has not been working because God gave me the measure of faith, and he gave me so little. That's the reason why it has not been working. But in Matthew chapter 17 and verse 20, Jesus was the one who was speaking and he says, and Jesus said unto them because your...
Because of your unbelief. For very little I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say unto this mountain, remove ends to your place and it shall remove and nothing shall be impossible unto you. It means, Jesus is saying the little measure of faith you were given. Faith as a mustard seed. If you have faith as a mustard seed, the little measure of faith you are given can produce tremendous results, tremendous miracles. It means it's not working because of the little faith. It's not working because you don't know how to make it work. It's not working because you live in ignorance. I don't know how faith has been designed to work. And so many people, because they don't understand the subject of faith, what they do is not faith.
The actions they take is not faith. Do you understand what I'm saying? I said faith is a settled confidence, a revelation of what has been done. You collect the receipt for it. You have the evidence for it. And you're gonna take action because of what you have received, because of what you have believed, because of the word that has been given unto you. Remember what I was saying? Now when God told you to do anything, God is speaking from the realm where iniquity does not exist. God is speaking from a realm where time does not exist. God is speaking from a realm where everything that will happen in time has happened in eternity.
Do you remember that the bible says that from the foundation of the world, the lamb was slain. So from the realm that God speaks in, the lamb has been slain from the foundation of the world. But when the lamb came to time, the lamb said, if it be thy will, let this cup pass over me. It means that in the absence of faith, the lamb could have rejected what was done in eternity. Do you know that it took faith for Jesus to die? Because he had to believe he will rise again. Do you know it was not in his power to rise again? He was not in his power to rise again. As a matter of fact, he was separated from the triunity. He said, father father, why have you forsaken me?
For the first time, there was disunity in trinity. For the first time, the trinity was not one. There was a separation because the son has become an embodiment of sin. He died separated from the father. He he he entered into the state that man was in the original state of man when man fell. Are you with me? And being in that state, he was separated from fellowship and from intimacy. He became sin for our sake. It means it was not up to him to rise. He had no choice in the matter.
He had... His destiny was not in the hand of his father. He had to believe that his father would not leave his soul. That's why... Do you understand what I'm saying? So many of the prophecies that David was prophesying was to the end that when the son came, the son will have an evidence. A title deed, a receipt of what has been completed. David said he will not allow my soul to perish in sure. The son have to see that evidence that this is already something that is done. My soul will not perish.
On account of this evidence, I can leave my soul with you. And expect that my soul will not perish. Do you understand what I'm saying? Am I complex? I hope it's simple. I really hope. So when God speaks a thing, When God declares a word, it declares a word because what is declaring is perfected, what is declaring is complete. It speaks from a realm that is done. It speaks from a realm that is finished. And in that realm, there is no infirmity.
The problem began when you were introduced in time. If you subscribe it back, if you are born of the spirit, it impacts into you the measure of it so that you can begin to tap into the realities that exist in eternity and impose them in now. It is without measure of faith that you change your experience as a believer to begin to reflect what God has said. It means a man can reject lack by faith. A man can reject poverty by faith. A man can reject sickness by faith. A man can reject affliction by faith because we're not born with any of them. That's why when God speaks to you, it does not speak to you as though you recognizes what should limit you because it's speaking from a realm where it was finished. It's speaking from a realm where the lamb had been slain from eternity. It means before God ever tells you anything, it tells you because that thing is done.
It is therefore logical to believe that faith is the evidence of what has been completed. It is the title deed. It is because we know it is finished. It is done. It has been completed. It is on that it is on that account we take action. I'm not expecting this ministry to become great off of my own strength, off of my own power, off of my own wisdom. There's nothing I can do that will bring that result. It is not up to men to give influence. It is on to God.
We declare these things because it has been done. We have tapped into eternity, and we have seen how God... What God has written about the Disciples Christian Network. These things are not things we hope for any longer. They are things we're not taking actions to believe. Are you with me? Actions because we believe. I know you'll be great. I know things will... Nations will come out of you.
I know what God has said. I'm not hoping for these things merely. I I walk in expectation of these things. So you see when a man when a man has seen what God has said, that is all you need to know it has been done. If God ever tells you go and do it, it is finished. He told you because it is completed. So was it when the child was born that he was preparing to be slain? Oh, no. Before the foundations of the earth, the lamb was slain. But the lamb was experiencing pain, and he wanted to abolish what had been completed.
It means you can focus on your pain and abolish what has been written. This was what the lamb experienced, but guess what? The lamb said, let thy will, not my will, but thy will be done. That is fit. That is fit. I accept your will as it is written. I put my life in your hands. I offer my life onto you. Are you waiting, brothers and sisters? Yes, sir.
So while a man is busy strategizing and thinking, oh, well, how do we start this business now? How do we go about it now? What do we do right now? How do we go? How do we start? How do we launch? Oh my god. There's no money. There's no this. There's no that.
What do we produce? People with that. The question is what did God say? You see, many people many people leave what God has said and focus on fact and figures. Your bidding will not prosper solely by a fact and figures. It will prosper by what God has said. And when God has spoken it, fact and figures may not make sense. Fact and figures might not even align. But if God has said it, that is all a man needs to have a act. And that little faith that is the measure of faith you were given, that measure of faith God has given to you should be able to do the impossible.
You have in you the power to do anything. You can effect changes and control the circumstances of your life to suit you if you will put your faith to work. God gave you the same amount of faith that's available to everybody else. The same amount of faith I have is what you have. Can you think about this for a minute? The same amount of faith Adebel you had when it began with God is what you have. The same amount of faith Bishop David Adebel had when it began with God is what you have. It means you can believe God for a conglomerate. You can act in accordance with what you believe. Are you holding the receipt is the question?
Do you have the evidence? Because if you are holding the receipt, nobody can tell you it is not yours. That receipt is the word of God. That evidence is the word of God. And not just the word of God as in the word of God. It is the of the word of God. The proceeding word of God. The word of God until you now. The now word as we call it. When Jesus or the holy spirit takes a verse, a passage, or an aspect of my speaking, for instance, and light it upon your heart, that word no longer becomes the logos.
It becomes the rhema. It becomes God's specific word to you. That specific word to you is the evidence you need to know that that thing God has said is done. Are you with me? So you can read the bible. The bible is the graphite, the written word of God. There is the living word of God, which is the logos. There is the now word of God, the spoken word of God, which is the rhema. That is the receipt. That's where the receipt comes from.
That's why the bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Faith comes by hearing. Note it. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. In other words, the Bible is telling you how faith comes. It tells you faith comes by hearing. It then tells you how hearing comes. Hearing comes by the word of God. Oh, it says faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the word of God. Do you understand?
It means if a man will have faith, he must hear. There is such a thing as the hearing of faith. Faith must... You you can't just happen on faith. Your faith must be based on something you have heard. And if it will be faith, then it must be the word of God that you heard because you can hear many things. You can hear the report of a doctor. The doctor told me that before I'm 20 and if I should stop all the things he has given, I'm in trouble. We'll go blind. That is something I could have heard.
Fear also comes by hearing, hearing by the word of men. Defeat also comes by hearing. Hearing by the word of men. Failure, poverty also comes by hearing. Hearing by the word of men. But if it is faith, it comes by hearing. Hearing by the word of God. And if a man has heard the word of God, there are times when you put what you have heard on repeat. I will get there very soon. Not not not today.
Not today. Why are you putting on your feet so that faith can come? Because it is not the entire thing really that you need. It is the. And when that thing latches in your spirit, when the word of God when the word of God opens up in your spirit and the spirit of God lights up that word in your heart and it becomes a revelation to you now, you will rise up and say, I can never be poor again. That was what happened to bishop David Oedipu when he picked all those books of Kenneth Copeland. All those years ago, what happened was a now word entered his heart. There was no... The... It was unseen.
You couldn't see the wealth. You couldn't see Landmark University was not in existence. Government University was not in existence. Faith Tabernacle was still very small. He was still living in a bus with his wife and child. Are you with me? Things not seen, but an evidence was delivered in a car. Do you understand what I'm saying? And in as much as there were things not seen, the man can declare, I can never be poor again, and there was nothing you could tell him that that can convince him otherwise. It means when you see a man of faith, there there might be things not seen, but there are things real.
There might be things that the physical faces might not be able to perceive, but there are things real, things that fit us in. And when a man begins to act by faith, what is the proof? What do you think is the... What makes you think this ministry will be great? How are you sure? How are you sure you will be great? How are you sure anything good will come out of your life? How are you sure you will arrive by greatness? Do you know how many people are doing what you are doing? Do you know how many people are doing ministry?
Do you know how many people are running businesses? What makes you so sure you'll be a billionaire? What makes you so sure you will prosper? If a man has faith, if a man has no faith, there's no reason. There's no reason to expect a good future. What we believe, what we confess, we say by... You sing. Those things that will hear, pastor Selman, he he will laugh. He will laugh. He will say, we will all be great.
And the beautiful thing about it is that we will all know ourselves. He said nations will come from around the world. He said, see the map. I see the flag of Koinonia flag of nations in Koinonia. I see I see Koinonia in The UK. This was 2012. 2012. Colonial began 2011. The evidence of things not seen. That they are not seen does not mean they are not real.
And because we believe they are real, we begin to act towards it. So we come to service every Sunday. We set up every Saturday. Do you know how much time, how much preparation? We are not as... We are not we are not tired. We will keep on doing it because there are things not seen, but they are real. The technical team are here for hours setting up arranging. The speakers, the offering team, chairs, there are people investing energy, investing time because they believe you will come. Chairs arranged everywhere set.
We go for outreaches and evangelisms. We pray, invest hours in prayers, hours in fasting. Each department meeting every week to pray in preparation because you will come. And guess what? You won't be the only one who will come. Nations will come out of you. It is because we believe these things we act in accordance to it. If we don't believe, there's no reason why we should do what we are doing. We can meet in a small town somewhere. We can find another dream, gather there.
But there is something we have seen. The actions are because of the things we have seen. Why do we spend so much money carrying people in buses every Sunday? Can they come by themselves? But we believe they are kings. The ones we carry today will donate buses tomorrow. There is something we have seen. Why do we ensure in our capacity everywhere is as excellent as we can make it? Because of the things that are real. They are unseen, but they are real.
If you don't have faith, what makes you think that people will patronize your business? Let me ask you a question. Can we be real as we call it? You know what? You know, when you hear people say, can we be real? You know they are about to go off scriptures. Oh, can we be real? Don't worry. You are safe. I'm a man of scriptures.
You you cannot... We cannot go scriptures. You are safe. How many banners did you see coming here? Answer your mind. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, can you count how many banners you ever see? You know what? Billboards, not banners. Billboards. The big ones.
Can I ask you a question? How many of you have ever made a decision based on a billboard you saw? You're not getting my question. You saw a billboard, and you made a decision to buy that product because somebody was snapping like this. How many of you? Let's see the numbers. Let's see the percentage. One tenth. So if one tenth of you have made revision because you put... Because you saw your billboard, what makes you think people will make revision because they see your billboard?
They don't get it, madam. What makes you think people will make a decision because it's all your flyer? Excel, laundry, and cleaning. A man with two buckets and packer, and you pay 5,000 for the flyer, and you post it everywhere. What makes you think a person will come and say, saw your flyer? That's why I've not been coming. Because we don't walk by anything that is not safe. If the reason you are taking action is because you are hoping something will happen, that's not safe. Results don't come from it. We take action because we have received evidence.
Do you understand the difference? In other words, I'm prosperous. I've received evidence that my business is prospering, and so I begin to act like it. I market my business. I read. I I I I I get knowledge. I go for conferences. I expand my exposure. Expand my imaginations. Apply myself to excellence.
Apply myself to diligence. You see, I'm doing all of these things because of what I have received. If if the reason you are doing it... You see, there are many things there are many reasons why a man can act. You can act because you don't want to be poor. You can act because you want to make ends meet. You can act because you want... Are you... How many people are looking for job today because there's no money? And they are looking for...
They are submitting CVs. The reason why he's submitting CV is because there's no money, and he wants to make ends meet. The jobs will not live by jobs. The jobs will live by faith. Are you blessed? In second Timothy chapter two and verse one, the bible admonishes us to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. That means we should take advantage of God's unmerited favor. He has qualified us by himself to be blessed. It is not our works, but his own work on our behalf that has qualified us for this special place. That's what grace is all about.
And Paul, the apostle, encourages us to take advantage of it. God has qualified you to be a partaker of his inheritance in Christ Jesus. You are qualified to receive God's best, not because of your own works of righteousness, but through the grace of Jesus Christ. Some Christians have prayed unsuccessfully for many years to receive the holy spirit. But in spite of all they are praying, they still have not received him. Their problem is not prayer. Are you with me? Ah, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. I've seen this happen with so many believers.
They wanna speak in tongues. They wanna prophesy. They wanna receive the gift of the holy spirit, and they've been praying some for so many years to receive it. And after failing in prayers because the prayer has not delivered to them what they've been praying for, they conclude and they begin to doubt even the authenticity of what others who are praying in tongues have received because of how much effort they've employed to ensure they also receive the same thing, and it didn't become theirs. Are you with me? Yes, sir. And in their search, they've prayed and they've prayed, and they still have not received anything. And I found out that their problem is not prayer. Their problem is not even the absence of faith because the moment you give a life to Christ, you receive the measure of faith. Their problem is they don't know how to receive.
They don't know how to live by faith. They don't know how to make that faith work. Guess what? Every gift of the spirit will work by faith. Let me ask you a question. When you started speaking in tongues, how did you know what you were saying was real? Can you be sincere with yourself and tell me how you knew? They were not just speaking baldadash, gibberish, nonsense. You know there are many people who believe that that's what we say. How do you know that's not as fast as what you're saying?
Speak in tongues for one minute or for thirty seconds. Pause. Can you make sense of what you have just done? What makes you think it's not just rubbish you just said? Can you make sense of it? When we pray and we expect to receive answers, what makes us know that answers will come? What makes you believe in the bible you read? Do you realize that majority of the Christian experience will be by faith? In other words, you believe that what you're saying is not nonsense because you have faith. And because you have faith, you are hacked in faith.
In other words, the man who has received it... The man who has faith... Are you with me? Who is... Who has received the holy ghost but cannot speak in tongues cannot do so for the same reason why you are doing so. You don't understand what I just said. In other words, the reason why the man cannot speak in tongues is because he has refused to speak because he does not believe that whatever whatever comes out of his mouth will be seen. The difference between you and the man is that you believe that what is coming out of your own mouth is sin. The man is not as though the man cannot speak. It's not as though the woman cannot speak, but he has refused to speak.
It's not the absence of faith. It's that he has refused to live by that faith. I can give you a gun and you don't shoot it. I can give you a gun and you don't know how to shoot it. Do you understand what I'm saying? That's why the bible says, signs shall follow them that believe. In my name, they will cast out devils. Everything that you will do in Christianity will be by faith. They will speak with new tongues. Even that is by faith.
Even that is by faith. And so we begin to speak. And we believe that what we are saying is making power available. What we are saying is not nonsense. It's not gibberish. Do you go try and speak gibberish for thirty five for one hour. You go try it, and we'll do it for twelve hours. We'll do it for eighteen hours, seventy two hours. Just pray in the holy ghost, making power available. I remember a young boy that entered my room when I was a student some years back.
I was praying in my room, and he just tumbled open the door and stumbled in, and he collapsed under the power immediately. That can happen because we act based on the evidence of what we have received. What is the evidence? These signs shall follow them that believe. In my name, we will cast out devils. That is what we... That's what we saw. We saw it there. And the moment we saw it, we believed. We acted on what we believe based on the evidence we received.
Are you seeing this? Yes, sir. The holy ghost fell upon them as they were gathered in the upper room. It means if you wanna stand up from a wheelchair, what is the evidence? It's the same it's the same principle. You want me to become prosperous? What's the evidence? Wanna live above sicknesses and disease, don't have power over principalities and dominions. What is the evidence? Are you with me?
Yes, sir. Thank you, Jesus. See, nothing can disqualify me from receiving from God, from receiving God's best, From receiving God's best. Let me round up here. So bible says faith, substantiates the things we hope for. So faith is not hope. Faith gives substance to hope. Faith is the title deed, The assurance, the evidence of the things we do not see. And because we have that evidence, we hacked on the things we do not see because we have received that title deed, which is the word of God. And so when the God...
When when God's word is revealed, when God's word is spoken unto believers, unto the saints, and you cast that Rhema word of God in your spirit, and your spirit man jumps at it, your response, are you with me, is faith. So if you believe you are healed, you begin to act like you are healed. If you believe that you are excellent, you begin to act like you are excellent. It means the way you talk will reflect excellence. You will read because you are excellent and because you are trying not to fail. That's why several people fail because you're not reading in faith. Remember, the just shall live by faith. Everything you do will be by faith. There are actions that are positive but are sponsored by fear. Similarly positive actions sponsored by fear.
Was Job not sacrificing to God every day? The bible says he offered sacrifices unto God on behalf of himself and his children and his family and his business, yet the same Job said that which I greatly feared has come upon me. What was then the motivation behind the sacrifice? That even prayer can be because of fear. Even prayer can be because of fear. But that is not how we latch onto realities as believers. We latch onto realities as believers in faith, through faith because of the evidence we have received. Are you with me? Yes, sir. And so we will never speak as though.
Thank you, Jesus. Let me stop here. We will never speak as though we are defeated. The bible says, let the weak say I'm strong. What did you say? What's the next one? That one is not in the bible. But there's nothing wrong with the poor saying that he's rich. He followed the same principle. What you are saying is a song.
It's not the bible. Can you go to the next... Can you read everybody? So let's read it. Next verse. Oh, you get the idea? Yes. But you know that even though the idea is scriptural, that's the same way lies can be introduced in songs. And you believe it as true. And that's why several songs that we believe or that we sing in believing them can sift our heart of faith because it's not the word of God.
That's why the songs you sing must be founded on scriptures Because you are hearing, and as long as you are hearing, you are introducing something to your spirit, either faith or fear. Do you understand what I'm saying? So when you sing songs that keep you defeated, songs that keep you aware of demons and their powers, songs that make you feel as though you are in bondage and God is coming to come and deliver you with his mighty hand. Then the question is what evidence have you received that you are free? Does the bible not say that wherever the spirit of the lord is, there is liberty. So where is the spirit of the lord? It's not in you? You see the problem is I have not received evidence. That thing I just said now has not become a real world to you. So you don't yet have the evidence of things not seen.
If you don't have the evidence of things not seen, you will have a report of things seen. Doctors report, economic report, financial report, business academic report. You'll be sad because of the report of things seen. But the moment of... The moment the evidence of things not seen, there is no amount of disappointment that can weigh you down. No amount of disappointment that can weigh you down. Please help her. Don't let her wound herself. Please help her. Because faith is not denial of problems.
It just means that we acknowledge the evidence over the problem. Are you with me? When a man begins to live in faith, this is how he used to live his life. This is how he conduct himself. Rise up on your feet. May I ask you a question? What evidence have you received? You see, when the spirit of God provides me with title deeds, I document them because the receipt must be written. That's why he gave us his written word. But there are times when he speaks certain things into your heart that you will not find word for word in the written word, but that will agree with the character of the word.
Do you understand what I just said now? Those things also must be written. You must continually feed your eyes with what he has told you. Because the moment you shift your gaze away from what he has said and you allow your ears to latch onto, you know that... Next week's only, I will show you the four classifications of faith. The bible talks about little faith. The bible talks about weak faith. There's a difference. The bible talks about strong faith. The bible talks about great faith.
Do you know all these things are in scripture? Word for what? Weak faith And Abraham not being weak in faith. He remained strong in faith. Jesus told him, never have I seen such great faith. Oh, ye of little faith. Four different adjectives used to qualify faith, and each of them mean different things. Do you know the problem with little faith that you have? The problem is that I can get you started, but I can't take you all the way. It's not it's not sufficient to finish the journey, but it's sufficient enough to start.
That's why God gave it to you so you can you can step. The aim and the idea is that as we begin to step, you you now intentionally grow. That's it. Are you with me? But if you remain just in the confine of the little faith, you will start well but not finish well. Remember, Peter said, come. And by reason of the faith he had, he started. He got to the middle and started sinking. Jesus said, oh ye of little faith. The faith that he started with was enough to make him start, but it was not enough to make him complete that journey.
So many people will sink in the way not because they did not have faith, but because they never intentionally grew their faith. To be able to handle the weight of their destiny, you can start doing the impossible with what you have. You can start the profit of having a great ministry in what you have, but you will need to intentionally grow what you have. The bible speaks of from faith to faith. But guess what? Even the one who had little faith walked on water. He took an action. He took a step. He took a step because he received an evidence. What was the evidence?
Come. What was title deed? Come. The moment he received the evidence, come. He placed his legs on water and he started walking. What audacity? What audacity? What audacity? Do you know that... Go go...
Continue. Continue. Continue. The bible says, oh, you have little faith. Why did you... Do you realize that every every time Jesus addresses little faith, this was always the thing. Either it is fear or doubt. Remember when he was sleeping and they woke him up, what he told them was, oh, you have little faith. Why did you fear? It means at the end of the journey of a little faith man, the time time will come that circumstances that are beyond how he began that journey would now come.
And if he's not careful to have developed the strength of his faith, he will begin to look at the circumstance as opposed to who is sleeping in his boat. And he would not know that it's impossible for that boat to sink if Jesus is there. Do you know that in both scenarios, Jesus was there? It's called the word of God. In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God. In the first scenario, the word of God was inside the boat physically. In the second scenario, the word of God gave them his word. He told them go to the other side.
It means in both cases, was present with them, And they never recognized his presence in both cases, both as the word he has given and as the word present there physically. The evidence is all that matters. You see, the atmosphere is changing now, but the spirit of the Lord is here. No. Yeah. It is. Yes. Yes. Evidence is all around. For the spirit of the Lord is here.
Listen. Somebody thinks that the evidence there is somebody screaming and shouting. You see that? That's the evidence. Evidence for... No. No. The evidence is the word he has given. Now now listen listen listen to me, brothers and sisters. Do you know you can find it in his word?
You can find it in his word. You shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. And the moment you see it, it breaks open in your heart. It becomes a title deed, and evidence is released. He said it because it was done. He said it because it was completed. He said it because it was finished. The moment the man sees it, he says this is the this is the receipt of what I wanted all along. So the next time he approaches the sick body, he is not afraid to say, can I pray for you? Now the difference is now he's not praying from a place of let's see what will happen.
He's playing from a pillar, let's see what has happened. Because an evidence... He he saw an evidence. He can be written in his bible and he saw that God worked great miracles by the hands of Paul and immediately Paul is missing that scripture and he's saying himself there. God is working great miracles by my hands. By my hands. And he begins to do those same things. You see that now? Yes. The just shall live thy feet.
How many of you got anything? How many of you got anything? How many of you were blessed? Are you praying what you have received? Listen. Now with what you've heard, with what you've heard, if you came here with any sickness in your body, I want you to do what you could not do. I'm not gonna pray for you. Just do what you could not do. I want you to apply what you were taught. At least one person will get it.
If I pray for you by the anointing, a lot of things will happen. But I want you to apply yourself. Apply it. You have a few minutes to do that. Just one minute. Do what you could not do. By faith. It is by faith. You're not forcing it. It's by faith.
Do what you could not do. See where that high is. Here without here. Move that body part. Speak well. I was gone. The cough is gone. I was having cough also. The doctor even diagnosed me of bronchitis. Bronchitis, sir.
Cough. Of what? Bronchitis. Bronchitis? Yes, sir. Inflammation. The thyroid inflammation of the bronchus? Yes, sir. And now? I'm fine, sir.
It went out. Gone forever. In the name of Jesus. During the beginning of the meeting today, I've been feeling very weak and then I could not really breathe very well. But while you were telling us to do what we could not do before, I was healed. Glory to God. For about two weeks now... Yeah. Yeah. For about two weeks, I've had a broken finger, but I still don't sleep for ourselves now....
Finger? Yes, sir. What couldn't you do with it? I couldn't use it. I couldn't... I haven't been able to wash my clothes, move the finger. Couldn't... Are you moving now? Yes, sir. I've been having pain for days now that I couldn't even come to church.
But today, for days now, for years, for months now. For what part of tummy. Your tummy. Yes. So while the musician was going, you I feel the urge to go to the toilet but I didn't leave my seat. But now the pain is gone. No more pain. Listen. Listen. Listen.
That's how they have to be cleared. That's how contracts will come. Listen, it's it's the same thing. It's so simple. It's so simple. That's how you would go to others and touch them and expect that they are healed. It's not... Listen, it's not welcome. Just believe it. You are feeling weakness in your body, just I am healed.
Not not because you are trying to be. Do you get how it works now? A deadline is coming up and you know what you mean and you need God to show up for you. Don't just start praying and declaring. Find the evidence first. The moment you have gotten the evidence, there's a base for declaration. There's a base for expectation. The money will come. I know it will come. One of my sons was sharing with me, and he told me, he said, one of a a member of his church came to him and told him how that his ask of freedom needed to be paid, 205,000 naira needed to be paid.
Needed to be paid and the deadline was already approaching and the young man just smiled We believe you were blessed by this message to connect with the Disciples Christian Network and get more from Apostle Emmanuel. Follow us on our social media platforms. You can follow us on Instagram at officialdisciplescn. You can follow us on Facebook at disciples christian network. You can also join our telegram page at dcn media for more messages by Apostle Emmanuel. If you have a testimony from this message, you can mail us at disciplecn@gmail.com. God bless you.