The Church has to Lift Itself in the Power of God!
Spiritual Building-Stone No. 189
St.
Mark 11:22-26,
”And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily
I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed,
and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall
believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have
whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire,
when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when
ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father
also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not
forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”
Listen to what the Prophet of God said about it:
I want you to get this now. The church has got to lift Itself in the power
of God. How? We're too close to the end now; and I believe the church is in
condition where we can teach it a little deeper things, and rub some of this
make-believe out and get into something real. See? It's got to be something
that you know.
Now, we want to speak now upon faith, and a different type of faith: "Perfect
Faith." That's a great thing. Now, faith, we're told in the Bible, "Faith
cometh by hearing." (Rom. 10:17). Now, you cannot be saved without faith
(Eph. 2:8-9). And faith is something that you have to believe it's there,
that really nothing else will declare it's there but faith (Heb. 11:1-6).
Now, faith is based on forgiveness then (Leviticus 19:17-18; Mark 11:25-26;
Matt.6:14-15). And then, as we said, trying to get the church into the place
to where we could really see apostolic times moving among us, that's what
we all hunger. And it's just laying right at the door. We see it, but we want
to see more of it. We want it such a flow that it'll be a help to us, flow
out to others.
Remember, Jesus He never used His power for Himself, He used it for others.
That's what it was sent for.
Now, now, we see at first the disciples didn't have this perfect faith. They
didn't have it, because they'd had Christ, walking with Him; but then afterwards,
Christ was in them (Colossians 1:26-27). And so, it's hard then to have this
perfect faith without the Holy Spirit; It has to bring it; It does. Now, you
say, "The disciples didn't have perfect faith?" No; for they had
an epileptic child there that they were trying to cast this devil out of him,
and they couldn't do it.
And the father seen Jesus coming, and he said, "We have brought my son
to Your disciples, and they could not cure him." See? (Matt. 17:14-20).
And afterwards, the disciples asked Jesus, saying, "Why could not we
cure him?"
And Jesus said, "Because of the lack of faith, of your unbelief."
That's right. "Because of your unbelief that..."
Now, remember, they had the power. Jesus had given them power to heal the
sick, to raise the dead, and cast out devils, just a few days before that.
(Luke 9:1-2; Matt. 10:1).They had the power but not the faith to use the power.
There's the church, the Bride today. The Holy Spirit is here with the power,
but you haven't got that faith to move it. See what I mean? It takes faith
to move it.
Here. I got a shell that I hand loaded. I know what it'll do by ballistics,
like the Word, but I've got to fire the gun. The fire has to get to the powder.
The powder's got the power, but it's got to have the fire to light it off.
And the same thing, the powder's in the shell, but it needs faith to charge
it and throw it out. That's what it takes, perfect faith to ignite the power
of the Holy Spirit which we have now, since He's come upon us; faith to ignite,
to see great things, is to... The faith, something that presents it to you.
He, our LORD JESUS CHRIST, had faith with His power. How did He? He said,
"I can do nothing in Myself." (John 5:19-20). Why? He relied upon
what He was; He relied in knowing that He was the Word. And He had faith in
God, Who made Him the Word. He was God, the Word, and it was in Him, and that
give Him faith, because He understood His position. He knowed what He was,
because the Scripture had said He was this (Luke 24:25-27). And here every
Scripture tied in to prove that He was exactly what the Scripture said He
would be, and He knew what He was.
Therefore, He relied upon what God had made Him. And if He did that, then
can't we rely upon what God made us as believers? "These signs shall
follow them that believe." (Mark 16:17-18). He had faith in what He was.
And if you are a believer, you have faith in what you are: you are a believer.
And if you've got faith in God, the Bible says over here in... "If our
hearts condemn us, then we can't have faith; but if our hearts don't condemn
us, then we have faith; we have confidence towards God." (I John 3:19-22).
But as long as you're doing things that's wrong, you can't have confidence
towards God. So, you'll automatically know that you're wrong. You automatically
will put yourself back there a sinner by knowing that you're wrong. But when
your heart doesn't condemn you, and you know you are a believer, and there's
nothing between you and God, you can ask what you will and know that it'll
be given, because it's the Word that's given to you just like it was to those
disciples (John 14:13).
Now, the only thing you have to do then, is have faith in what you are. Have
faith in what the Word says you are (I John 3:14; I John 5:18-20; Matt. 5:43-48;
Gal. 4:6; Romans 8:16-17). And Jesus had faith in the Word of God that said
what He was, "It is written of Me." Didn't David in the Psalms,
and the prophets, and all of them speak of Him? "I am the Bread of Life
that come from God out of heaven." (John 6:48-51). Amen. "I am that
Tree of Life from the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24). I am all these things;
I AM THAT I AM." And He knew with that, a perfect faith, that He was
the anointed Messiah, that the Spirit of God was upon Him (Luke 4:14-21; Isaiah.
61:1-3; John 1:41; John 4:25). He said, "Now, I, Myself, do nothing;
but it's My faith in God." And God was in Him, the Word made manifest.
And when the Word of God comes in you, It's made manifest, for you are a believer.
See? And a believer is the faith of God that moves in you.
You like that? I like teaching what faith really is.
Knowing Who He was, without a shadow of doubt He knew He was the Son of God.
He knew it, for the Word identified. The Word of God identified Who He was
(Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 9:6-7). He said, "If I do not the works of My Father,
then don't believe Me; but if I do, then believe the works, for they are the
manifested Word promised." (Zechariah 9:9-10; Luke 19:29-38; Psalm 118:26).
Oh, if you could just wake up to that a minute. You see, the Word Itself identified
Him, Who He was. And He said, "Who can condemn Me of sin?" In other
words, "Who can show Me that My life and My works don't fulfill exactly
what Messiah should do?" Nobody could say nothing; for He was. Then He
had faith to believe then that whatever He said would happen.
For the Word identified, identified Himself, what He was; and the same Word
identifies us. See? "If a man loves Me, he keeps My commandment. And
if he says he loves Me, and keeps not My commandments (That's all of them.),
he's a liar; the truth's not even in him." (John 14:21; I John 2:3-6).
You say, "Well, I don't believe all..." Well then, you're just an
unbeliever; that's all. If the Bible said so, that makes it right, that settles
it eternally. What the Bible said is the Truth.
Now, see, He knew Who He was; therefore He had faith. Faith could produce
when He knowed what He was. Now, "if ye abide in Me, and My Word in you,"
then you know who you are. Amen. Ask what you will; It'll be given to you
(John 15:7).
Jesus had perfect faith. He had it, and it come because He was the Word. And
you become the Word; you become the Word, as you receive the Word. "If
ye abide in Me, and My Word's in you. My Words (which this Word) abides in
you, then ask what you will, and it'll be done for you." See? "And
if ye say to this mountain, 'Be moved,' and don't doubt, but believe in what
you've said, then you shall have what you said. When you pray, believe that
you receive what you ask for, and you shall have it; it'll be given to you."
Time, space, nothing else will ever change it. You know it's done. It's already
over with.
Now, watch. Now, and He said to us, "If ye abide in Me, and My Word in
you, you can ask what you will, it'll be done." Then recognize your position
in the Scripture as a believer (I Thess. 1:4-6). See? You've got to recognize
your position as He recognized His position.
But Jesus lived in a world that no one knowed about; He was an odd Person.
He lived in a world of perfect faith in the perfect God, in which He was.
If we lived in a perfect faith of a Christian, to what we are, we'd be a mystic
to the world; the people wouldn't understand you. You'd walk in the Spirit
(Gal. 5:16-18). What the Spirit said, you would do. What It forbid, you would
not do. Then the people begin to say... and you'd be a mystic person to them.
That's the way it is to all believers; they're a mystics. The people don't
understand, because they live in a world to themselves. Jesus lived in a world
that nobody else could touch. The disciples couldn't understand Him. When
He spoke to them, they say this. And then they said, "Why, You talk in
riddles (Matt. 13:10-17). We don't understand this. How can this be?"
See, they wasn't in the world that He lived in. See, they couldn't understand
Him; nobody could understand Him.
And so when a man lives by faith and walks by faith, I mean substance faith
(Heb. 11:1), he is isolated from the entire world and becomes a new creature
in Christ (II Cor. 5:17). There, now you're getting into Bride material. You
see, see? You're getting into rapturing condition now. That means for each
one of us, not just the pastor, deacons, trustees; that means for the laity,
every individual walks in a world with God alone. You're baptized into this
Kingdom (I Cor. 12:13), and there's nobody in there but you and God. See?
He gives the orders, and you pack them out. Whatever He says, there's not
a shadow of doubt nowhere; you walk right on. If the Lord says this, there's
nobody in the world can talk you out of it; you go right on just the same.
Now, you're coming into perfect faith, perfect perfection that cannot fail.
That faith never fails. Yes, He was a mystic to them with His perfect faith;
and so is it now with those who have perfect faith are a mystic to others.
Now, notice, perfect faith is a master of all circumstances. Perfect faith
masters all circumstances. No matter what it is, it masters it. Now, just
watch. When you believe anything, do anything, and you got faith in what you're
doing; no matter what the circumstance is, that don't have one thing to do
with it. See, it masters that circumstance. If it's in a room of sickness,
and the Lord's revealed that this certain thing's going to happen, you just
speak it and go on.
Just don't ask any questions. It's already over; just keep going. See? It
masters all circumstances. "Well, if you do this, So-and-so's going to
do..." See, it already got it mastered. See?
Faith believes that God will work it out. "I don't know how He's going
to do it, but He will do it anyhow." See? It masters all circumstances.
And faith and love is relation, because you can't have faith unless you've
got love, because your faith is in a God Who is the very essence of love.
Faith and love works together (Gal. 5:6).
He caught me when I was nothing. I'm still nothing, but I'm in His hand. See?
He caught me. And He loved me when I was unlovable. He loved you when you
were unlovable, but He changed you.
Just like the colored sister said, that time in her testimony, she said, "I'm
not what I ought to be, and I'm not what I want to be; and then I'm not what
I used to be." She knowed she come somewhere, something happened. And
that's the way it is. If God, when I was an alien from Him, so loved me till
He stooped down to get me and pick me up, that gives me confidence that He
wants to use me. He's got a purpose in doing it. He seen something in me.
He seen something in you. He had a reason to save you. Look at the people
that's unsaved today. Look at the millions He could've took beside you, but
He took you. Amen. No one can take your place. Amen. You're in God's economy.
No one can do it. That's His love to you.
Then won't your love reach right back to Him? And there's a love affair. No
matter what the situation is, its circumstances is governed by this love that
creates faith: that God loves you and you love God, and you love one another,
and that brings the faith. All right. Then it can't keep from bringing out
just exactly what God promised it would do. [1]
Now, brethren
and sisters, I want to ask you something. Then if we are borned again of the
Spirit of God... God doesn't have little weak parts and big strong parts;
He's altogether God! And if you had enough of God in you, till It was just
barely a shadow, that's enough power to make a new earth. That's enough power
to make a new moon and a new system. It's God, and it's strong. And right
now in every believer in here has Life Eternal, which is God's Spirit in you;
enough power that'll raise up the dead, that'll heal the sick, that'll set
orbits in conditions. It's controlled by a law, that Spirit that's in you.
You are sons and daughters of God. That same Spirit that you've got in you,
will raise yourself up at the day of the resurrection.
If there wasn't a law to that, sons and daughters of God would create them
a world out here and go live a private life on it. You have the power in you
to do it (Luke 24:48-49; Acts 1:8). If you've got a shadow of the power of
God in you, you got power to do it. God is omnipotent. See what I mean? The
power that's in you will make... You could speak a world into existence and
go live on it. Hallelujah! There you are.
That's what power is in the Church now (II Cor. 4:7-11), but it is controlled
by a law. And that law is not keeping a bunch of commandments. It's a law
of faith. Jesus said, "All things are possible to them that believe."
And if you can believe it, whatever God will lead your soul to believe, that
is yours.
As much as your faith will be released, that's how much power you can have,
because in you dwells the power to make heavens and earth. God dwells in you,
and you are sons and daughters of God. Amen. There you are. But it's your
faith. Jesus said, "According to your faith, be it unto you. If thou
canst believe, all things are possible. Verily, I say unto you, if you say
unto this mountain, 'Be moved,' and don't doubt, but believe that what you
have said..."
Believe it! You got to believe it. What we need today is not pray for more
power. You got enough power to make a new earth (Eph. 3:20-21). What you need
is faith to use that power. What you need is to control that life, [2] ...
not be a tattler; how to control your temper, not fly off every time anybody
speaks cross to you (II Peter 1:3-11).
Temperance, how to answer in kindness when wrath is spoke to you. Somebody
say, "You bunch of holy-rollers down there." Don't jump out and
roll up your sleeves now. See? Not that, but talk with godly love. Temperance,
kindness, is that the way you want to be?
When you're riled upon, rile not back. Let Him be your Example!
Oh, my. Boy, a lot of us are going to fall off before we get started, aren't
we? See? Then we wonder why God's not in His church doing miracles and things
that He used to do. [3]
Live such a godly
life, that when you ask God anything, you know.
We have confidence in God, of that. We know, if we keep His commandments,
He'll withhold no good thing from us if we walk with Him. God walking with
us. [2]
This is coming
into that Third Pull! I'm believing it. I'm working out something; it's taking
this charge of faith and going right back to begin and come in to kinda raise
faith in a bracket where you've never noticed it that way before. Not a faith,
but a perfect faith, built it up in here. And watch a perfect God, with a
perfect heart, keep a perfect promise, by His perfect Word, which is sharper
than a two-edged sword and a Discerner of the thoughts of the heart (Heb.
4:12-13). What? We're coming now to the perfection, because the people has
to come to this in order for the rapture. That's what's holding it away right
now, is waiting for that church to come into that perfect raptured faith.
I'm looking for it. It means a lot of shaking down for me; it means a lot
for you; but together we'll make it by the grace of God. Amen. [1]
References:
Reference:
[1] “Perfect Faith”, par. 39, 26, 19-20, 51-77, 93-94, 112-114,
123-134, 184
[2] “Ever Present Water” (61-0723M), par. 147, 150-153, 160
[3] “Stature Of A Perfect Man”, pg. 33