Perseverance (62-0218) 23 Now, this morning we want to talk on faith. Now, my subject this morning is: Perseverance. Perseverance means to--to be persistent, to make a goal. Now, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. We have our body, and our being here is like a seed. And a seed on the outside has a shell; inside the shell has a crust, or a pulp, pardon me; and inside the pulp has a germ. Thats the way we are: body, soul, spirit. Now, to the body theres five senses: see, taste, feel, smell, and hear. To the soul theres conscience, and so forth: five avenues to it. The inside is one, one avenue. And that avenue is the same place that God set every man from Adam and Eve: self-will. You will to live or you will to die, either one you want to. Its, youre based on free moral agency, and whatever spirit that you let dominate you will bring forth the fruits, your life will be dominated by the inside. And faith... So many people rely upon these five senses on the outside. Theyre fine, nothing against them, if they agree with this sixth sense. This soul... This spirit only can be of two kinds, one of them is the Spirit of God, the other is the spirit of the Devil. You cant serve two masters at the same time. Youre wholly given to one or wholly given to the other. And if you got the Spirit of God in you, youve got faith, and youll believe every Word that God wrote. And if you havent, you might be... 26 Now, the Devil is not like some people think; hes mean and everything, but hes deceitful. The Devil makes you think that youre right. But when you disagree with the Word, that shows that it isnt the Spirit of God, cause the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible. And then its got to be agreeable with the Word. And remember last Sunday, just one little disbelief in Gods Word... Eve, Satan told her the truth, and he never denied the Word being true, but that one little part of the Word caused all this trouble. The woman disbelieved It because she was hunting for wisdom instead of staying with the Word. When God says anything, heavens and earth will pass, but His Word shall never pass away. Gods Word must be fulfilled to the dot. Just to the very tittle and jot, It must be fulfilled. 27 Now, perseverance, to be persistent, to try to make a goal, trying to... Youve got your mind set on something, and youre--youre persistent in it, because you believe its the thing that you want, and you believe you can get it. Now, pardon me. To be persistent, youve got your mind made up now that what youre going to do. Now, you cannot have faith in God without knowing the Word of God or knowing something about God. Now, someone told you, If you go touch that post, youll get well. Youre sick. Now, I wouldnt believe that. You might do it. But thats just a little too strong for my faith. I--I dont believe theres any virtue in that post, no more than I believe theres virtue in a statue, or a monument, or a crucifix, or something like that. I believe the virtue is in Christ, and Christ is the Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us. Now, the Word Itself comes back in the form of the Holy Spirit, into us, and Its Word in you: God in you. So many wants to point God to some mystical something way away, or so far away they overreach it. God is in you. The hope of Glory, Christ, the mind that was in Christ in you. Youre reaching plumb away from it, trying to get whats been given to you. God, in the human being. All, God... 30 Christ, when He was on earth, was the body of God. God created this body. It was a different body, yet it was a human body. You know, Solomon built Him a house. But Stephen said, Howbeit the Most High dont dwell in houses made with hands, but a body has Thou prepared Me. Now, God prepared Himself a body in the form of the Lord Jesus, which was the Christ, meaning the anointed One. And now, all that God was, was in Christ; He was the Fullness of the godhead bodily. Thats what the Scripture says. Now, and all that God was, He poured out in Christ. He was Emmanuel, God with us. And all that Christ was, He poured out into the Church. What is it? Anointed one to continue His work, that His Word might live constantly. He lived by the Word of the Father. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. And the Church dont live by bread alone, but by the Word of Christ. And the Holy Spirit comes in and takes the Word of Christ and makes It a living action today. These signs shall follow them that believe. 32 See, God cant change. If God ever makes a decision, it has to remain that way. If He changes, then Hes human like I am; He--Hes just a man that can make a mistake. But Hes infinite. So--and Hes infinite and He--Hes omnipotent, and He cannot make a mistake and be God. So His first decision... When a man sinned He--He forgave him on the basis of believing His Word. The second man comes, Hes got to act the same way or He acted wrong when He acted the first time. If a man was healed by Divine healing by faith in God, He granted that to the first man, if the next man comes, Gods got to act the same way if its met on the same basis. If He didnt, Hes a respect of person and show partiality, which it sure wouldnt make Him God. See?
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 07:41:00 +0000
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