Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] It's going to be an amazing time. Why don't you stand as we honor the reading of God's word? Hebrews, chapter eleven.
[00:00:09] Last week we began talking about faith. Everybody say faith.
[00:00:16] We're going to kind of begin to prime the pump for what we believe God is going to do.
[00:00:22] I'll just tell you, it's going to require faith on our part. Hebrews, chapter eleven, beginning at verse one. I think it's there on the screen. Yeah, we got it now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it, by faith, the elders obtained a good testimony. We're going to talk about some of those elders today. Jump down to verse six. It says, without faith, it is impossible to please him. It is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek them. Do you know that God is a rewarder?
[00:01:04] He rewards those who seek him, those who pursue him by faith. Now, James chapter two is where we're going to launch from today.
[00:01:12] James chapter two in verse 20 says, but do you not know, o foolish Mandev, that faith without works is dead?
[00:01:25] Was not Abraham our father, justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see? Faith was working together with his works, and by works, faith was made perfect.
[00:01:38] The scripture was fulfilled which says, Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works, not by faith only.
[00:01:53] Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot, also justified by works when she received messengers and sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. This, ladies and gentlemen, is God's word, and we believe it to be true. You may be seated.
[00:02:19] I've entitled this message, legends of faith.
[00:02:26] Legends of faith. If you're taking notes, I want you to write that down. Legends of faith.
[00:02:33] I want to look at some of the elders that were mentioned here just a moment ago. But let me just say, before we really dig into the world, guys, I don't know if I've ever been so excited about a season that we're about to enter into as I am right now. I had a strange experience on Thursday night.
[00:02:55] Came together for a board meeting. And the reason it was kind of strange is my wife and I, we took our first church when I was 21. She was 19. We pastored a small church in Illinois country town, and it was a board ran church. Most of our board meetings were not fun. They were very unpleasant. It was arguing about money. It was arguing about whether we could move a coffee machine from one room to another.
[00:03:21] So to come into an atmosphere like Trinity, where our board meeting this last week was literally testimony, we got together, and I'm just telling you guys, people, our elders, our leaders, our board members just began to share about the wonderful things that God has been doing, how our attendance is up, our giving is up, and people responding in the altars. And then we just began to share testimonies about the radical things that God's been doing here in the altars, how. I mean, guys, every week we're praying for people and we're seeing miracles transpire. Every time we come together, we're seeing deliverance happen. I'm hearing testimonies about guys who are coming down. I've got a 30 year addiction, and next thing you know, they're showing up in prayer meeting, and then they're showing up in the services. And, man, I just hit a month clean, and I've never been clean in my life. We've got people that are coming down. My wife just served me divorce papers, but I'm down here because I'm believing God is going to restore my marriage. And they come back, hey, a month later, we're still together. God's healing us, God's restoring. We baptized almost 220 people just two weeks ago, guys, we did a class before that, before the baptism, and I just asked the room, I'm like, how many of you are being baptized for the first time? And almost a third of the room raised their hands saying they'd never been baptized before. Pastor shared a testimony in the board meeting how there was a lady who was coming down the line and she was just asking him, tell me what God's been doing in your life. Why are you getting baptized? And she began to cry and said, I've been a prodigal for the last three years, but today, today I'm coming home. Today I'm getting right with God. And I'm looking at this, you guys, and I'm just telling you, I'm telling you, you haven't seen anything yet. We have only just begun. You know, the Bible, especially within the New Testament kingdom theology doesn't say, listen, we're going to have highs and lows. We're going to have mountains and valleys. Listen, there's one verse in the Bible that's talking about that, and your story is not his story. The Bible talks about how we are moving from glory to glory to glory. I'm just here to tell you, don't walk with expectancy. Life is going to be hard and then there's going to be a good season. Then it's going to be hard again. No, you are moving from glory to glory. Your life is getting better and better. We are living from faith to faith. We are living from glory to glory. Come on. Is anybody with me on this?
[00:06:04] It's gonna get better. So what we've seen in the altars, I mean, yesterday, you guys, we trained just over a hundred new prophets that are gonna be unleashed in our revival nights. We're gonna have that prophecy room later on this month. They're gonna be released on Wednesday nights in every prayer service. I mean, why are we doing, why are we raising up a hundred plus prophets? Why are we praying for 300 altar workers?
[00:06:32] We're preparing the nets for what God's about to do in this place.
[00:06:37] We're preparing for what God's about to do in this place. So we need a lot of people full of faith with expectancy in their heart. God's going to do some radical things and God's going to use me. Come on, I want you to tell your neighbor, God's going to use me.
[00:06:52] Tell your other neighbor God's going to use you.
[00:06:55] That's right. So we're going to look at this legends of faith now just as a kind of review. Last week we talked about how faith, hear me on this. Faith is not just a mental ascent. Oh, I agree with that statement. Faith is not just an emotion. Wow, the song is right. It feels good. This must be faith. No, faith is not a commodity.
[00:07:19] Faith is relationship.
[00:07:23] If you want a good message on that, listen to pastor's message last week. Faith is not a commodity. Faith is relationship. And so we talked about how faith is substance. We just read that verse a moment ago. Substance, it's what you are standing under. So faith comes when I'm standing under the Lord, I'm standing under his anointing. We talked about the faith of God. That's what's flowing through you. The same virtue, the same power that was upon Jesus. You and I can receive and operate in the faith of God. That's a big deal. That means what Jesus did, he was modeling. Listen, this is what a supernatural life it looks like. This is what you are able to do as you walk as sons and daughters of the most high God. That's relationship. So we think of faith sometimes. You'll hear about like great faith and you'll hear about little faith and things of that nature. But, you know, and we think in measure, like I'm measuring flour to make cookies or I'm measuring water for a recipe. But faith is not to be measured like a commodity.
[00:08:36] Faith is more comparable. I mean, think about love. So I love my wife sitting on the front row here. I love this woman of God. And I could. I mean, like, you'll see little kids trying to describe how much they love. I love you this much. Right? I love you 10,000. But I'm just here to tell you, I cannot put into words or measurements how much I love that woman sitting right there. I just can't. I mean, I can try and express it. I love you a diamond rings worth. I love you a bouquet of flowers worth. I love you a fancy dinner's worth. I do those things to express, but understand that's not the measure of my love. The measure of my love is expressed in what I feel and what I experience in the relationship that I share with her. Everything that I bring, her gifts and the acts and the expression of my love is all as a result of the relationship that I share.
[00:09:33] Faith is the exact same way we're living in relationship with God. And it's not that. Well, I have great faith, so I can do stuff. It's not that I have great faith, so I see him doing stuff. No, we're doing life with Jesus. We're walking with him. We're having victories, and we're having troubles at times where we're having moments with great breakthrough in seasons, where we're still contending. And as we walk by faith, our relationship is deepening. And all of a sudden, you begin to realize, man, I've gone through some stuff, and through it all, my faith has grown. I used to have little faith, but now, man, I'm in a place where I've got great faith. I've seen God do this sort of thing before. In fact, that was some of the testimony. In fact, one of the leaders at that bored me. I'll just keep on going back to it because it blew my mind. One of the leaders there was talking about how they prayed with their family, who's had a death sentence of cancer over their life for decades, but have survived every single time. And now when they pray for people, I've got somebody with brain cancer I'm praying for now they have faith to believe. I've seen God sustain somebody over here. I've watched God heal over here, and now I have faith for your situation. Does that make sense. So Jesus described faith in terms of a mustard seed. And this is very important for us to understand if we're going to be people of faith. Matthew 1720, Jesus said, assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. Nothing will be impossible for you if you have faith as a mustard seed. Now, this is important. The problem is you look at a mustard seed, and I've seen people, when you go into the christian bookstore and you'll see a necklace with a little mustard seed mounted in this little thing. Anybody ever seen something like that? Hopefully you're not wearing something like that today because I'm about to make. I'm about to ruin your piece of jewelry.
[00:11:43] The problem is, we've been taught, man, if I just have this little speck of faith, I can speak to mountains and they move. But the problem is we've spoken to mountains and they haven't moved. And so something's going on. Like, what in the world is this? That either means that the Bible's not true or I'm not understanding it, or I must not even have a mustard seed worth of faith. And can I just tell you today that bad theology has resulted in powerless prayers?
[00:12:14] Bad theology, bad teaching, has resulted in powerless prayers. I know that I've got a little why is the mountain not moving? I know that I have a little. Why haven't I seen the breakthrough? The Bible never said we're supposed to have faith as big as a mustard seed. He said we're supposed to have faith like a mustard seed, not faith as big as a mustard seed, but faith that is, as a mustard seed. There's a big difference. One of these is dealing with a measure. Well, it's little. The other is dealing with something relational.
[00:12:52] See, I'm not gonna bore you with the Greek here, but I looked at every single word in this passage, and I looked at about a dozen different commentaries because I know people will check me on that. And that's wonderful. I did not find anybody who disagreed with what I'm about to tell you. We're dealing with mustard seed faith is not faith as big as a mustard seed. It's faith like a mustard seed. And Jesus already taught on mustard seed faith. A couple chapters earlier, in Matthew 1331, Jesus says another parable he put forth to them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, and which is indeed the least of all the seeds. But when it has grown, is greater than all the herbs, and it becomes a tree. So the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. See, faith as a mustard seed is not small faith. It is faith that is planted, it is rooted, it is nourished, and it is growing.
[00:14:02] I'm going to say it again.
[00:14:04] Faith as a mustard seed is not small faith. It is faith that is planted, that is rooted, it is nourished, and it is growing. So if you wanna be a person of great faith, a great man or woman of God, you need to get planted, you need to be rooted, you need to be nourished, and you will grow. In fact, I want you to write this down. Faith grows in community.
[00:14:31] Faith grows in community.
[00:14:35] See, something happens. In fact, there was one commentator, William Thompson. He was actually talking about traveling in Capernaum, and he saw the very mustard tree that Jesus was very likely referencing. He said, as he was on a horse going by these mustard trees, mustard seeds that had been planted less than a year ago were as high as he was sitting on a horse. If the mustard tree was allowed to grow for a number of years, it actually became so large, this little tiny seed, this little herb became so large that a full grown man could climb, climb up into it and rest in its branches.
[00:15:13] This is the nature of faith. It's not this little tiny thing. It's that which seems so small. Yet when it is planted, it is rooted, it is nourished, it will grow to something. Guys, this is the kind of thing that I believe for that as people come into this house, like, I don't have a lot of faith, but, man, you saw a miracle breakthrough in your finances. You saw God restore your marriage, you saw God heal cancer. So I'm gonna pray with you. And literally, they're hiding under the shadow of your faith. They find rest and they find hope as they come under the covering, the canopy of anointing that is upon your life what God has grown in you.
[00:15:51] Man, that's good preaching right there.
[00:15:54] Faith grows in community.
[00:15:58] I mentioned the church we pastored in Illinois. What's kind of neat about that is the group that started that church actually bought this acreage literally in the middle of a cornfield. So every year we would watch as the season would go on. Corn would grow up all around our church and our house, which is on the same property, we'd watch it come up, and full grown corn planted in a cornfield would actually grow anywhere from eight to 12ft tall. If it was nourished and taken care of properly, eight to 12ft tall. But every couple of years, they would rotate the crops and instead of planting corn in a field, they would plant soybeans in the same field. Soybeans only grow up to a little over a foot tall. I know you can tell I spent some time with farmers, right? They only grew up to a little, about a foot tall. But what would happen is every once in a while you'd have a little grain of corn that would get stuck in the machine and would end up getting sown in the bean field. It was what farmers would call volunteer corn, and the volunteer corn would get planted, and as this began to grow, the corn began to grow up alongside the beans. But what would happen is if a corn, if corn was planted in a cornfield in the right field, taken care of, would grow eight to 12ft tall. But if it's planted in the wrong field, it would only grow to three to 4ft tall.
[00:17:24] Where you're planted matters, where you're grounded matters, my friend. So people come to prayer and they're like, man, your faith inspires me. Pastor Jacob, you pray radical things, and I know that I do. But you want to know why? It's like when I first met Tommy and Miriam, I see these guys and like, man, these guys are radical. You want to know why they're radical? They spent time around radical people and all of a sudden I begin to see the faith that they're operating in. And I'm like, mandez, I need some of that. So I get around these guys and what begins to happen is I'm rooted. As I'm grounded, as I'm in community with people of faith, all of a sudden my faith begins to expand and my faith begins to grow. I've spent my entire life seeking out and looking at people like, wow, that's a nourishing word right there. Whoa. This is a community of faith that I can dig roots in deep. This is a place where I will grow.
[00:18:24] Guys, I'm just here to tell you, faith requires community. If you want to be a great man, a great woman of faith, get in community, get plugged into this church, go talk to the ushers teams or the parking lot team, and, like, what can I do to get on this? Or how can I be a part of this altar team? Find something to connect with that you can exercise that which God has placed on your life. Now, that was my introduction. I want to talk about three legends of faith. Are you guys all still doing good? Okay, legend number one, Abraham.
[00:19:01] I want you to write. Write that down. Legend number one. I'm going to give you three legends today. And I'll give you these faith statements all throughout. Legend number one is Abraham. We read about him in James chapter two and verse 21. Abraham, our father, was justified by works when he offered Isaac his son son on the altar, faith was working together with his works. And by works, faith was made perfect. The scripture was fulfilled. Abraham believed God. It was accounted to him or credited to him as righteousness. He was called the friend of God. You know Abraham's story?
[00:19:37] This guy you want to talk about? Radical. There's a reason he's a legend of the faith.
[00:19:42] God spoke to him in Genesis chapter twelve.
[00:19:47] Abram, I want you to leave your country. I want you to leave your family. I want you to leave everything and go to a land that I will show you. You imagine God coming to you like that? Listen, I want you to leave everything and go. The first question we would ask is, where are we going? Right? Where are we going? He didn't even give Abraham instruction. Like, I just want you to leave everything and go, well, where are we going? I'll show you when we get there. And they, he, and then he leaves. Read this story in Genesis twelve. This is insane. He leaves the next day. I want you to write this down. Faith obeys quickly.
[00:20:33] Faith obeys quickly. I'm telling you, want to be a legend of faith like Abraham was. Obey. When the Lord speaks, he receives the word. He's showing his faith by his immediate and willing participation with God. You know, like Pastor said, this whole thing that he's walking out was relationship. I'm just following you, God. We see it today as, wow, that was great faith. Abraham saw it as, I'm just obeying the Lord. This is what obedience is. This is what faith looks like. So a little while later, God shows up to Abram in Genesis 17, and he says, I'm going to make a covenant with you, Abram. And the sign of this covenant, he gives him the promise. Look at the stars. Your descendants are going to be as numerous as the stars. Look at the sand. That's how numerous your descendants are going to be. And here's the sign of the covenant. Sacrificed some animals. Fire came and went through the pieces of animal. And then he gave Abraham a part in that agreement, circumcision.
[00:21:39] Now, listen, the next time you receive communion affirming the covenant we've made with Jesus, or the next time you observe a water baptism, or you are baptized as a sign of the covenant, we've made with Jesus. You ought to say thank you. That we affirm our covenant through. Through communion and baptism and no longer through circumcision.
[00:22:01] Really? All the men say, amen.
[00:22:04] I'm thankful, man. I'm thankful that communion. Oh, thank you, Jesus. You are so kind. So Abram gets this. And I want you to put yourself in Abram's shoes. I mean, Abram, his name means father. Everybody say father.
[00:22:20] This is important because for a man whose wife is barren, for a man who wants children to be named Father, for a man whom God has visited and said, listen, you're going to be the father of a multitude of nations. It's a big deal that his name is father. And yet, ironically, he can't have children. In fact, you'll see this is a common theme throughout scripture. A lot of people who were promised babies had trouble having babies.
[00:22:46] Don't give up. Don't stop believing. For your miracle, Abram receives this. God gives him a covenant. You imagine he's going along and he's introducing, hey, my name is Abram. My name is Father. Now, most of us in the english language, most of. Most of your names don't mean anything. Like you've heard some bad names about Jacob. Oh, that means liar. That's not true. But I'm just telling you, most of our names don't mean anything unless you got a cool name like Peyton and Rodney's rhythm. Like, I understand what rhythm means. You know, you got some cool names like grace and glory and man, if I could name my kids over again, I might.
[00:23:25] But they're awesome names. Abram's name meant father.
[00:23:30] God comes to him in Genesis 17, and he changes his name to father of a multitude of nations. Imagine how ridiculous that sound. Here's a guy believing God for his word and for 25 years has not seen breakthrough. He goes off in a prayer meeting, comes back telling everybody they need to get circumcised.
[00:23:53] And my name's not father anymore. My name is father of a multitude of nations.
[00:24:00] Why would God do that? Here's what I believe was happening. God put a declaration on the tongue of Abramouse. I want you to write this down. Faith declares God's word. Faith declares God's word. This is so powerful. This is so powerful. We take the promises of God and we need to put them on our lips. Think about Abram. Everywhere he went, he's introducing himself. Hey, my name is father of a multitude of nations. Hey, my name is father of a multitude of nations. Hey, my name is father of a multitude of nations. Everywhere he goes, he's declaring the prophetic word of God over his life. Every time somebody calls to him, father of a multitude of nations. Hey, father of a multitude of nations. When he's being introduced to somebody, he's hearing the prophetic decree of God being released over his life. Once again, I'm telling you, if there's something that you are believing, for a breakthrough, you need to put that on your lips as frequently as you speak or you hear your own name.
[00:25:07] This is why we make declarations over our finances. Inheritances, bonuses, raises, witty ideas. Inventions, houses we did not build. Businesses we did not start. The heavens are open. The devourers rebuked in the time of God's favor has come. Want to know what that came from? I was looking and I'm just like, I got sick of being broke.
[00:25:25] Anybody with me on that? I got sick of being broke. I was sick of telling my wife, no, we can't do that because we can't afford that. And so I began to look through. I was sick of paying somebody else's mortgage because I was renting. I hated it. Every time I paid rent, I was paying somebody else's mortgage, somebody else's inheritance. And so I found a promise in the Bible where God told Joshua, everywhere you go, I'm going to give you houses you didn't build. I'm gonna give you vineyards that you didn't plan, businesses that you didn't start. I began to pray God, give me entrepreneurial ideas. And I saw a promise that he gave David, I'm gonna give you witty ideas and inventions, David. I began to be a tither, like Pastor Tim was talking about earlier. God, your word says that you would rebuke the devourer and open the windows of heaven and pour out such a blessing that I wouldn't have room to contain it. Now, why do I begin to receive these words? I didn't like where I was, but I knew that God had a promise on the authority of scripture. And so I began to speak out. I got houses that I did not build. I got businesses that I didn't, that I didn't start. I've got inheritances coming my way. I've got bonuses and promotions. Come on. Checks in the mail. What are you declaring? The promise you're believing for needs to be as frequently on your lips as your own name.
[00:26:51] Faith requires declaration. It requires declaration. So this is what Abram did. He begins declaring he has a covenant. He has a promise. He has a word from God. And his declaration is now transforming him into what God has declared he is. I'm gonna say that again. He has a covenant, he has a promise, a word from God. And his declaration of the word of God is transforming him into who God says he is.
[00:27:25] Oh, my goodness.
[00:27:27] We know the story.
[00:27:29] Abram receives his miracle child. He receives that baby. And then God asked him. We read the account just a moment ago. God asked him to give his child. I want you to write this down. Faith is willing to sacrifice.
[00:27:46] Faith is willing to sacrifice.
[00:27:50] What this means is God. There's nothing you would ask me to lay down that I'm not willing to. Lord, there's nothing you would. My pride, me being embarrassed, me going and confessing, me resigning my position, me giving up my title. There's nothing you would ask me to do that I'm not willing to do. That's the type of faith that this legend had. Abraham. Faith is willing to sacrifice. But watch Abraham's line of thinking. In Hebrews, chapter eleven, it says, by faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. And he who had received the promises, offered up his only begotten son, of whom he said, in Isaac, your seed shall be called. Concluding this is what he reasoned, God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from which he also received him. In a figurative sense, Abram. Abraham had so much faith in God. Listen, God, I declared this. I believed this. You gave me this promise. And I know this is the word that you had for me.
[00:28:59] Many of us, if we were in Abraham's shoes, we would have tried to reason. I didn't hear God. I must have misunderstood God. No, that's the devil talking to me. We would have reasoned this away. Or maybe. Maybe he means something else. Maybe I can fulfill this some other way. No. Abraham stood God, I know this is your promise, and I know that. That which I have received in Isaac, I know this is the seed that you promised to me. So he reasoned, God, if I sacrifice him, you're going to raise him from the dead. And what's radical about this idea? If you read through the scriptures, start in Genesis, and you come to Abraham's story, you'll realize nobody up to that point in time has been raised from the dead.
[00:29:44] It's a miracle that has never been performed. Happens later a couple times. But in Abraham's story, he didn't have any frame of reference. He didn't even know if God could do that. But he was so full of faith, confident in God's word and declaration over him, his life, his family, he assumed, God, you're going to do the impossible. What eye has not seen, what ear has not heard, nor has entered into the heart of men the things that God has prepared for those who love him. I just wonder if there's anybody here today like Abraham, who would believe for something that nobody else has ever seen. I'll be the first God. I'll go. I'll believe you, and nobody else will. Do you have faith that moves you? Do you have faith that's willing to sacrifice? Do you have faith that's going to continue to declare God's promises, even if you're contending for year after year after year? Do you have faith that can believe for the new things that God wants to do in our midst? I'm telling you, I believe that. I believe there's some people here today that do God all believe like that. If you could use Abraham like that, I believe that you can use me like that. Now, James talks about another legend of faith.
[00:31:03] Legend number two is Rahab.
[00:31:08] Legend number two is Rahab. Now, this is an awesome lady. She's named there in James chapter two and verse 25. She's also named in Hebrews chapter eleven. And I just think it's interesting, you know, you can read Hebrews, you can read James, and it's interesting. You won't find Deborah listed there. You won't find Esther. And I asked my wife, you guys pray for my wife. She not only has to hear me preach twice on Sundays, but I preach to her all throughout the week. She hears all my ideas and all. So I asked her the question. I'm like, leah, how can we have women's conferences and meetings where everybody's praying for the Deborah anointing? We're praying for the Esther anointing, right? A million women with the Esther anointing. Why don't we have conferences around the rahab anointing?
[00:31:54] And my wife, she's sharp. She knows her Bible. She's like, wasn't she a prostitute?
[00:32:00] Oh, yeah. So we won't pray impartation for the rahab anointing. But here's what I want you to understand about Rahab.
[00:32:11] Rahab was a mighty intercessor.
[00:32:16] Rahab was an individual who.
[00:32:21] You can read her story in the Bible.
[00:32:24] Here's what I want you to write down. Faith demands an intercessor.
[00:32:30] Faith demands an intercessor. The reason Rahab is recognized as a legend of faith is because she stood representing her family. She and her family were the only that lived through the over of Jericho. And she ends up becoming the great great grandmother of Jesus. And she's not even jewish by religion or ethnicity. This is crazy. Her faith and her intercession made room for her in the lineage of Jesus.
[00:33:05] God, by the way, likes to use people like this. She wouldn't even qualify to be ordained as a minister in a lot of our denominations today. Her DNA test would show that she is not that she's of the wrong ethnicity, but the reason she was a legend. Read the story in Joshua, chapter two. It's fascinating.
[00:33:26] Egypt has just been overthrown by an 80 year old man with a stick, Moses.
[00:33:34] Moses goes into the greatest world and military and religious power on the planet. Planet in that day and declares to Pharaoh, let my people go. And you know the story. It continues to go through the story, and all of a sudden, you begin to see rivers of blood. You see plagues, you see darkness, you see pillars of fire, you see an angel of death, you see a splitting of the sea, and you see the releasing of slaves from the most powerful nation on the planet. They cross over the Red Sea, and they're moving now into a land that God has promised them.
[00:34:13] Now, as they're spying out the first city they see, they overthrow two kings before they even get to Jericho. And then they come to the walls of Jericho. They send in two spies, and Rahab brings them into her home and begins to share with them exactly what's going on in the nations, begins to share about how they're terrified. In fact, that's what the Bible says. The terror of the Lord had come upon that promised land, that they were afraid, because it's not just Moses and it's not just the children of Israel, but they are serving a God who fights their wars.
[00:34:54] That was scary. And so here they are. I mean, Joshua, they're running. They're marching around the walls. You know the story. And the people are hurling insults. They're mocking them, they're making fun of them.
[00:35:07] But inside the city, they're terrified. Inside the city, they're afraid. But she took action. She saw her opportunity and had faith when nobody else would. She received the spies into her home. She released a them, hit them on the roof, and then release them when nobody would see them go. This is what the Bible says. Mark 1124. Whatsoever things you ask when you pray, whatsoever things you ask. Everybody say, ask.
[00:35:42] You got to use your mouth. Declaration is powerful. Declaration is life transforming. She, he put the words in her mouth and was willing to ask what nobody else was brave enough to. And when those walls came down, rahab and her family were the only one who lived. This is a big deal.
[00:36:06] This is why names are important.
[00:36:10] Agreeing with God. My wife and I had a wonderful trip to the DMV this last week. I was exercising the gift of patience. I was growing in that grace in my life.
[00:36:22] But something interesting happened while we were waiting for our number to be called. There was a guy who had been waiting a couple hours before me, and he gets called up, and I hear what he's. You know, he's kind of, you know, he's upset, and I understand why now, but he begins to share with the person behind the counter. Listen, my car got stolen about a month ago, but I got it back. They were able to find it. I got my car back, but now I keep on getting pulled over because my car is still reported as stolen. I've almost been arrested twice. He's, like, freaking out. Like, I got my car back, but it's still reported. So I need to get out of that system. I need you guys to change this. This is a good reminder, by the way. If you're having a bad day, just remember somebody else is having a worse day. You had to wait hours to get that new, okay? And so. But I'm. After we left the DMV, it's about 6 hours later, praise God. We're coming home from the DMV, and I'm just thinking, I'm like, this is where a lot of christians live, you know, I've been redeemed. What the enemy had taken, I've now received back. Yet we're still receiving declarations over our life. We still have the accuser saying his lies and making his decrees over our life. And I'm just telling you, friend, you need to. You need a name change. You need a new identity. This is what Rahab was doing. This is what Abraham was doing. No, I have a promise from God. I'm not a barren old man. I will have children. This is what rahab. I have faith. If God fought for you, God can fight for me, and he can fight for my family. I'm not going to live under the threat of death or an invading army. No, goddess, if you redeem me, you can change my identity. And that's exactly what some of us need. We're going to pray, and I was going to do some of that for us today. Do you have faith like rahab?
[00:38:12] Faith that says, I'm going to believe God? Think about where she was. She's in a city, and an invading nation is coming to overthrow her city. All of the voices were against this nation that was coming. But she had faith that says, I'm going to believe God and what he's doing over the voices that are all around me. I have faith that's going to put my life at risk. But if I don't speak up, if I don't intercede and represent, stand in the gap for my family, we're going to perish. She was willing to lift her voice. She had faith that put her own life at risk, faith that was willing to intercede for her family. She had faith that valued the will of God, even if it disagreed with popular opinion or the narrative of the day. She crossed ethnic lines, she crossed national lines, she crossed religious lines, and as a result, was grafted into the lineage of Jesus.
[00:39:08] What a powerful. We need to have a rahab conference. I don't know.
[00:39:14] I'm inspired, Mandy. So Abraham is a legend of faith. Rahab is a legend of faith. But in verse 24, it says, so, you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. Just as the body is dead without the spirit, so your faith is dead without words. You want to know who the third legend of faith is? Is? We have Abraham, we have Rahab. And legend number three is Jacob.
[00:39:50] All right. The first service laughed about that. I guess it's not Landon did. Okay, bring up the next slide. You don't need to write my name in there, but that's what I wrote down. I want you to write your name in there. The legend of the faith is. Say your name right now.
[00:40:05] Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's it. Now, not everybody said it. I want you to. What's your neighbor's name? Find out what their name is. You're a legend of faith. Come on, ask them.
[00:40:14] Yeah, you're a legend.
[00:40:16] God lines all of this up talking about Abraham and Rahab. And the stories intersect with people like Moses. I mean, radical faith stories. And then he immediately turns it to you.
[00:40:31] All of this is an example for you in the lifestyle of faith that you and I are called to live in. Guys, I'm just telling you, you're not called to live a wimpy little puny christian life. I just do the bare minimum until I get into heaven. Guys, God has called us to turn the world upside down.
[00:40:53] Jesus modeled for us what a life of the son of God looks like. And then he made provision for you and I to be children of goddess like him every time. You see what I mean? People were amazed with Jesus, and he's like, listen, you see what I do, and you're impressed.
[00:41:15] The things that you see me do, you will do and greater and greater. Jesus isn't even like the limit on what God can accomplish in the earth. Jesus is the foundation. Foundation.
[00:41:31] And he's looking to you and to me. Come on. Is there anybody who's going to step in legendary status faith, like Abraham or Rahab or Moses and say, God, if you could use them, you could use me?
[00:41:44] This is stuff I believe for. I was talking to somebody before the service. I mean, I was getting fired up and all these testimonies I'm hearing, and it's like, I rejoice in it. I rejoice in people that God is saved from cancer and prodigals that have come home, and the list goes on. But, like, I'm believing for the day that, like, every person who has cancer, a tumor, a growth, like at one spoken word, it's just gone. Like, God just does it. I read about these radical things. Carlos Anacondia would, would wave his hand and anybody with cavities would get golden teeth. Like what? Like, what is that? Like, if God can do that, it has not entered your mind or your heart. The things that God has in store for us. Like, if we read about how God used Anacondia or Steve Hill or how he used William Seymour or he used Evan Roberts. Like, I rejoice in these great revivalists, but I'm telling you, all of that is foundation. What God is going to do in this next mighty move of God is even greater. Greater. It's more. It's more.
[00:42:52] So that's why we're training hundreds of altar workers, and that's why we're writing new songs. And that's why we're trying to create space. This is why we need ushers. This is why we need people. Like, make sure that people can even make it into the parking lot without leaving frustrated. This is why we're preparing the nets for what God's about to do here.
[00:43:14] But it only works with you.
[00:43:21] It only works with you.
[00:43:23] I can be anointed and pray my brains out all day long. I can preach my guts out, and I will.
[00:43:29] But if God's going to do all that he desires to do here in Cedar Hill, if he's going to do all that he desires to do in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex, it's going to require you, it's going to require your lost family and friends to come into the kingdom, get restored, get patched up. I don't care if they're like, Rahab. I don't care if they're in prostitution. I don't care if they're in addiction. I don't care if they're like Moses, a murderer and a liar. God is able to redeem and bring forward. Anybody with me today? Come on. You're a legend of faith worship. Team, would you come?
[00:44:04] I want you guys to get ready to sing that great new song again.
[00:44:09] Our own guys wrote that, by the way.
[00:44:12] Our guys wrote that. It's amazing.
[00:44:21] You're a legend of faith.
[00:44:25] The book of James. If you're not yet convinced, it'll continue on in the story. And by the time you get to chapter five, he's really, like, talking about the fact that God wants to use you to do miraculous things.
[00:44:38] He talks about Elijah, who I mentioned a couple weeks back. Elijah is the guy who called down fire from heaven. Elijah is the one who overthrew false and pagan religion in an entire nation, saw revival come back. Elijah is the one who outran horses, would prophesy to weather, and it would obey Elijah. Miracle worker, dead raiser, mighty Elijah. And then the Bible says something that's absolutely ridiculous. If it wasn't black and white, plain in the Bible, I don't know if I'd believe it. But James chapter five and verse 17 says Elijah is like us, with the same physical, mental, and spiritual limitations and shortcomings. The new living translation said, he is as human as we are.
[00:45:25] But he prayed.
[00:45:28] You want to know what the difference is between Elijah the miracle worker and you?
[00:45:33] He was one who had confidence in his relationship with God. Faith.
[00:45:38] And he prayed.
[00:45:40] I'm just telling you, some of you, you haven't received your big miracle because unlike Rahab, maybe you're afraid to even speak it out.
[00:45:48] God, that promise that you gave me just seems too radical. I'm old. I don't know if I could have a kid anymore. And you've given up making a declaration, because it just seems so out of reach. The only thing that separates Abraham's breakthrough from where you are today is he was willing to believe for it.
[00:46:06] He had faith. Same with Rahab.
[00:46:10] God spared her entire family. Somebody came up to me after the service, like, pastor, have you ever thought about what that must have looked like? All the walls came down. She lived on the wall. It must have been like one little tower that was left with Rahab's house in it. How wild is that?
[00:46:27] Came down. Her family was spared because she was willing to ask, and she received that which was impossible.
