Glorious Way Church
Glorious Way Church equips believers for the work of the ministry and stands for God’s truth in our culture. We serve as a regional center, where people from all backgrounds find refreshing worship and true communion of the saints.
Glorious Way Church
Faith - The Believer's Servant | Pastor John Greiner
This message focuses on finding peace and confidence in God’s presence, even when circumstances feel overwhelming. It highlights how His Word is an anchor in times of uncertainty and encourages us to trust His promises rather than give in to fear or doubt. Listeners are reminded that God’s faithfulness never changes, and by leaning into His presence, we can walk boldly through challenges with strength, hope, and assurance.
Let's get into the Word together and let's get our Bibles. This is our custom around Glorious Way Church. We like to wave our Bibles around, make Jesus glad, the devil mad. Let's say this together Say, heavenly Father, I give thanks for Wednesday night. It's the perfect timing for me to fill back up on the Word of God and the Holy Ghost, to remind myself of my covenant sealed by the blood of Jesus. I have victory day in and day out because of the word and the spirit in Jesus name. Amen, amen.
Speaker 1:All right, let's turn in our Bibles to the gospel of Mark, chapter 4, and also Luke 17. We're going to look into the gospels tonight. Mark, chapter 4, verse 26. Jesus has been teaching and telling the parable of the sower, sows the word and gave the interpretation, and then, in verse 26, he said so is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up. He knoweth not how, for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth or is ripe immediately he putteth in the sickle because the harvest is ripe. And then let's turn to Luke 17, and we'll start with verse three. Luke 17, verse three Jesus is speaking again.
Speaker 1:Take heed to yourselves. If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him. And if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day, turn again to thee saying I repent, thou shalt forgive him. You know, one version says 70 times seven, but this one is just 49 instead of 490. But the disciples said, and the apostle said unto the Lord Lord, increase our faith. We gotta forgive somebody that many times. And the Lord said if you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say, or you would say to this sycamine tree be thou plucked up by the root and be thou planted in the sea, and it should or it would obey you. But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he has come from the field, go and sit down to meet, and will not rather say unto him make ready wherewith I may sup and gird thyself and serve me until I have eaten and drunken, and afterward thou shalt eat and drink. Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded of him. Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded of him? I trow not. I don't think so. So likewise, ye, when you shall have done all those things which are commanded, thee say we are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do. And so tonight I wanted to share a message entitled Faith the Believer's Servant. Faith, the Believer's Servant.
Speaker 1:Notice what Jesus said in response to this command to take heed and be forgiving of your brother. And, you know, bear along with people. Sometimes you've got to forgive them more than once, even in a day. And they said Lord, increase our faith. And basically Jesus just said well, to plant the faith that you have, plant the faith that you have. See, it's up to us whether we're going to plant or whether we're not. You know the whole kingdom. He said in Mark, chapter 4, which they knew, that at this stage, I mean he had already preached that message to them in Mark, chapter 4, about the sower sows the word. He said in Mark chapter four, which they knew that at this stage, I mean he had already preached that message to him in Mark, chapter four, about the sower sows the word. He said.
Speaker 1:The whole kingdom of God is all about sowing seed. It's sowing the seed of the word of God. It's all about sowing the seed faith. You see, the word is believed in your heart and spoken with your mouth. It's planted by words. Word is believed in your heart and spoken with your mouth. It's planted by words. And so the kingdom operates on the seed sowing principle. Without Satan, the whole natural world would operate the same way and one seed would produce forever. But Satan is the God of this age and so he does cut off the natural things that God designed for nature to have. God designed all this to work in nature, but since it's not working in nature, it does work in the kingdom. You've got to understand. I mean, the seed of the word of God will grow.
Speaker 1:And so I'm reminded of a man that was retired and he saw this vacant lot in his place where he lived, a subdivision, and it was all grown over with weeds and brambles. And so he cut all that down and he tilled the soil and he pulled all the weeds out and he began to plant and he planted grass and he planted shrubs and he planted hedges and he planted some beautiful flowering. He did a beautiful English garden right there in the middle of his subdivision and he's out there working and toiling one day making it look beautiful. And these two ladies stopped by they're out walking, you know, walking the dog and they stopped by and he overheard them say, oh, look at this beautiful garden God gave us and he spoke up. He said, yeah, you should have seen it when he had it by himself.
Speaker 1:And so you know, we've got a part to play in the kingdom. It's about whether we plant the faith that we have or not. Faith has been given to every believer. Romans, chapter 12, 3, how God has dealt to every man the measure of faith. And that measure is the measure it takes to be saved. I mean, it's not of ourselves. God gave us the gift, just enough faith. And then, after that original, it's up to us to begin to add to our faith and begin to grow our faith.
Speaker 1:In all the gospels you see Jesus looking for faith. He's measuring faith. He's always paying attention to faith. You know he went to his own hometown and they had no honor. He marveled at their unbelief. They had no faith, they had unbelief. And you know his disciples got out in the boat one day and he said beware the leaven of the Pharisees. And they whispered to each other oh, we didn't bring any bread with us. Oh, no, he's talking about us not bringing bread. He said I'm not talking about bread. He said how many loaves did I multiply? I multiplied five loaves and fed five thousand. I multiplied four of those and fed 4,000. I'm not talking about bread, I'm talking about religion.
Speaker 1:Don't let the Pharisees rub off on you, say how is it that you have no faith? In other words, they let that whole teaching slip. And how is it that you have no faith? He asked Peter, oh ye, of little faith. Wherefore did you doubt? When he started to sink in the water, he started out walking on the water. So little faith walked on the water.
Speaker 1:And, of course, that woman that we preached about recently, you know, the Syrophoenician woman. Oh woman, great is thy faith. So Jesus is always looking for and measuring faith, and it's not the size of the faith in the beginning. That's what they said. They said, lord, we don't have enough faith to forgive somebody that many times. And and so he goes off. You know, do you study your bible? You know you need to study your bible. You can read it, but you need to study.
Speaker 1:This message came from years ago when we studied in these verses and God giving me a revelation of faith, becoming my servant. Because what does Jesus do to respond to them? He's, you know. When they said, lord, increase our faith, he said, well, if you had faith as a grain of mustard seed. He said, well, if you had faith as a grain of mustard seed. Now, notice, a lot of times people get this all messed up and confused because they'll quote it this way and they'll read it this way because it's been misquoted from the pulpit so many times If you've had faith, the size of a grain of mustard seed he didn't say the size.
Speaker 1:He didn't say the size. He just mentioned a grain of mustard seed and he wanted to emphasize the seed is tiny, but all seeds are tiny compared to what, compared to the harvest, compared to the thing that will be produced when that seed is fully ripe and grown and is harvested. But it's still small. I mean, an avocado seed is pretty big, you know, three quarters to an inch big. That's a big seed, but guess what? An avocado tree is not that much bigger than a mustard plant or a mustard tree.
Speaker 1:I mean it's not about the size of the seed, it's about the comparison that your faith is as a seed. Your faith must be planted like a seed. That's the way the kingdom operates, and faith is either planted or dug up with words. I mean you can dig up your faith, you can dig up the seeds of faith with words as well as plant them. So if you have faith as a seed so it implies then if it's as a seed, then it has to be planted. I mean we know that, don't we? I mean, if you had a hundred pound sack of seed corn laying in the garage, I mean, or laying in the barn, I mean all you got is a hundred pound sack of seed, you don't have much. Guess, you could eat the seed, but it'd run out pretty soon. But if you go and plant that hundred pounds of seed, I mean you're going to have a crop.
Speaker 1:Thinking about brother osteen, when he was a kid, you know, the farmer asked him to to sow this, this field. He had about a 50 acre tract and he gave him some seeds and I won't showed him how to plant the seed and he he paid him a little money, you know, and go out there and plant these, you know, 12 inches apart, you know. But put, you know, just a little old job, you know. And so he got out there and it was hot and he got tired, and so he just he planted a few seeds, you know, and then when it got so hot, he just took the whole bag and he just dumped it in the corner of the field and got collected his money, and everything was fine until harvest time, and in the corner of the field there's this big old bunch of plants all in one corner. The rest of the field is blank. You know, it's so funny him telling the story on himself as a kid, and that farmer was not happy with him.
Speaker 1:But you've got to plant the seed to get a harvest, and so any seed is always small compared to the finished crop, and so, but when it's planted it does grow. That's how the whole kingdom operates. That seed goes into the ground, it germinates, it puts roots downward and shoots upward, and by and by, all of a sudden, you begin to see some evidence of growth, and then, pretty soon, you've got a little plant, but it's not ready yet. It's not ready yet. Finally, when it's completely ripe See, this seed time and harvest is in the Bible, in Genesis, chapter 8,. As long as the earth remaineth, there will be seed time and harvest. That's the way this whole kingdom operates.
Speaker 1:And faith, see, then he comes back. He says now, after he said you know, if you had faith as a seed and you planted it, you would speak to the sycamine tree and it would be plucked up by the roots and planted in the sea. It would obey you if you had just that much, if you planted that much little faith, just that little bit of faith. It's always small, it's always small. And then he lapses in. This is where it gets kind of tricky. And where did you get servant? How come you say faith is a believer's servant? Well, you know, I like to picture faith as a person, just like Jesus did.
Speaker 1:Jesus went right into that example and he began to use farm employees as an example. He said which of you having a servant plowing or feeding cattle? It's an agricultural society and you know, if you're successful, you're going to have people out there to do the heavy work. You're going to have the people out there pl successful, you're going to have people out there to do the heavy work. You're going to have the people out there plowing and you're going to have the people out there, you know, taking care of the livestock and everything else. You're not going to do it. You're the head of the enterprise. They're serving you. If they do a good job, well, they just do what they're paid to do. That's what they're supposed to do. And when they come in from working, if they're really working for you, then they're supposed to cook your dinner, they're supposed to take care of you and then, after they've done that, then they can sit down and eat. But notice, they do get to sit down and eat.
Speaker 1:What would happen to your servant if he's out there planting or taking care of the cattle? If he doesn't eat, he's not going to last. He's going to run out of steam, he's going to run out of energy, he's going to get hungry, and then you haven't fed your servant. See why in the world did Jesus mention all of this in relation to Lord?
Speaker 1:Increase our faith, because your faith is your servant. It will bring you things that you need. It will bring you into a place where you can forgive people by faith. You can't in the natural, you can't do it, but your faith can grow and you can actually genuinely release forgiveness towards someone if you'll begin. If you'll begin even when you're feeling a little bit and you're not really totally engaged in that forgiveness yet. But you know it's the right thing to do and you go ahead and speak it. Well, you know you did the right thing. And then you speak it again when that feeling comes on you oh well, I've forgiven that person by faith. Pretty soon you're not even going to think about that person negatively anymore because your faith starts to bring you that picture and really it's all healed up. As far as you're concerned, you have no concerns about it at all, praise God. So when the seed is planted, it grows, it germinates, it grows and produces fruit. So your faith will serve you.
Speaker 1:Look at verse eight. Wouldn't you rather say, hey, servant, you know, serve me so I can eat, and after I've eaten you go ahead and sit down and eat? So you're still talking about faith. See, as a servant Jesus is the one who said it you can connect those dots. You know, if you're just reading through your Bible real fast just to complete a task, excuse me, you know. Oh, I've got to read this chapter today. I've got to read two chapters in the New Testament. I've got to hurry up and read these chapters.
Speaker 1:Look, sometimes you need to slow down and really think about, put yourself on the scene. Think about. You're one of the disciples and you just heard Jesus say I have to forgive somebody 49 times in a day and another version says 490 times in a day. He said well, just use the faith you've got, plant it. How do you plant it With words?
Speaker 1:You say the right thing. I forgive them right now. I forgive them in Jesus name. I forgive them. You don't feel like it. See, forgiveness is not emotion. It's not emotion. It doesn't have anything to do with your feelings. It's your faith, your faith. By faith, it's the right thing to forgive. I'm going to forgive them right now in Jesus' name. You don't feel it, but you say it. But if you say it, enough, pretty soon you're going to. Actually, your feelings will follow your faith, no matter what the obstacle is. Sometimes it's not forgiveness, sometimes it's health, sometimes you need finances, sometimes you need a breakthrough in your business, sometimes you need a breakthrough in your marriage, sometimes you need a breakthrough with your children. Whatever this obstacle is the initial portion of speaking a word toward. It is always tiny compared to the trouble, but it's no less. I mean, once you've planted it, the thing is on the way. The victory is on the way. Glory to God, come on, lift your hands right now. Hallelujah, as soon as you speak, the victory's on the way. So what I get out of this is my servant yes, is there to feed me and he will feed you. I mean, but what do we have to do? We have to feed our servant. You know, we got to feed our faith and that's what I'm doing tonight. I'm feeding your faith. I want to preach this so that I can feed the faith you've got. We're all at different levels, we all have different levels of faith, and yet this word can feed your faith. It can spur you faith and get you to think about something a little differently, and you can attack the obstacle or the trouble or the mountain let's just call it a mountain, whatever it is. I mean, mountains are moved with faith. Amen. But you have to feed your faith, you have to feed your servant. And so let's turn over to Isaiah 55. I just finished the book of Isaiah. I'm just starting Jeremiah. Now this is fresh on my mind and my heart Isaiah 55. And it says here, verse 9, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways. God is talking, you know, through the prophet, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth, not thither but watereth the earth and maketh it heaven, and returneth, not thither but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me, void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. So you've heard me say this a number of times recently and I say it again tonight God's word in your mouth will do the same thing as God's word in his mouth, so that we can verily say the same thing that as the rain comes down from heaven and the snow and doesn't return but waters, the earth hydrates, the earth waters. My servant gives him drink because he's going to have to have food and drink to keep working. So shall the word be that it may bring forth and bud. Say what is bring forth and bud. It means having a harvest that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the. Either is bring forth and bud. It means having a harvest that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. You see, you get two things out of a crop you get more seed and you get bread to eat. That's what it's designed. That's what God designed it to do. You get double blessed. You get a harvest and then you get some more that you can sow and it can be sustaining.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of word right now about sustaining sustainable agriculture, sustainable oyster beds and all this word about sustainable. What does it mean? It just means it just keeps on going. No-transcript. It will not return to me. Void that word. I'm speaking to my mountain. It's not coming back empty. It's going over there and it's burrowing down and it's growing. And the end result after seed time.
Speaker 1:See, it takes time, it's not going to be instant. After a while, that mountain is going to get moved, that obstacle is going to be removed, that situation is going to change, removed, that situation is going to change and it'll prosper in the thing whereto I send it. We have to send the word of God to our situation. Send the word of God so we are his servants. God expects this of us. When we get great results, we don't get a cock-a-doodle-doo man.
Speaker 1:Look at me, I'm God's man of faith and power. You don't have any faith he didn't give you. You get credit for being faithful. You get credit for giving yourself, paying attention and dedicating your time to receiving the seed. But really that's the way the kingdom is supposed to operate. We're his servants, so we shouldn't be so. I've seen people get.
Speaker 1:So it's fine to have a testimony. That's not what I'm talking about. A testimony is glorifying God, though Testimony doesn't glorify us. The testimony glorifies God. That's the point. You know. It's God that gave the increase, not us God. God's the one that gave us the faith to begin with. So speak to the mountain. You know, in Mark 11, 23, these whoever shall say under this mountain.
Speaker 1:He said sycamine tree here to remind them. He'd already told them about the mountain before. But this is a different verse, a different time, a different situation. So he used a sycamine tree. The sycamine tree is a tree that is really man. It's got roots that are gigantically bigger than the tree itself.
Speaker 1:It's almost impossible to clear a plot of ground that has sycamine trees, because you can take a bulldozer and run over it and all that, but you leave those roots behind and guess what they're going to grow. And it's just very difficult to actually get those out and clean the land. And guess what? Jesus used that example it would be plucked up by the roots. See, that's a big deal. That's like a mountain, I mean. That is so, see, with man that would be impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are possible. And he also said in another place all things are possible to him that believes. So then again, this seed sowing impact on your mountains that you have in front of you, they're designed to accomplish the impossible. So so, day by day, you know, if you develop.
Speaker 1:So in Mark 11, 23, he's whoever shall say under this mountain. The word epo means to say be thou removed, be thou cast into the sea, shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe those things which he saith. So he shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe those things which he saith, lego. That word saith means Lego, it means a systematic discourse, it means saying the same thing consistently, not just once, but every time you think about it. It's coming out of your mouth the same way.
Speaker 1:And, let's face it, we all are learning how to talk, just like a baby has to learn how to talk. You know, when babies just start to talk, we just gather around their first word, mama, dada, whatever their first word is and we just are enthralled by it. And it's wonderful just watching them to learn. And then sometimes you know when they say their little things. You know, when they're a little older they come up with these cute little things, you know, and we just talk about how they said that in their little language. You know why? Because they're babies. But as Christians we can't afford to be babies very long.
Speaker 1:We've got to develop our systematic discourse, especially with things that are important, things about your health, things about your family, things about your children. Whatever it is your career, your job, whatever it is your business, you've got to develop that systematic discourse. It takes discipline, because most people tend to say one thing one minute and something else the next. So they're planting and then they're digging up, and they're planting and they're digging up. That doesn't work. You're not going to ever get a crop that way right. So you've got to have that systematic discourse Whatsoever he has a systematic discourse on, he shall have whatever he said. He shall have the epo, he will have it. It won't happen overnight. It'll happen though.
Speaker 1:So we have no trouble believing we're saved. If I ask y'all if you're saved, oh yeah, I'm saved, praise God. If the devil came and told you that you're not saved, you'd laugh in his face, right, are you crazy? Of course I'm saved. I was there when I got saved. Get out of here, you dumb devil. You can't attack me. I'm born again, filled with the Holy Ghost. Leave me right, devil. You can't attack me. I'm born again filled with the Holy Ghost. Leave me right now. You wouldn't have any problem saying that.
Speaker 1:But then, on the other hand, if you come walking in the church limping and you can hardly walk, how you doing there, brother Tom? Well, you know, man, looks like I'm going to have to have a hip replacement surgery. Man, I got arthritis. Arthritis kicked in. No know better than to talk like that.
Speaker 1:But some people, don't know, say they might be saved, but they don't have a very good systematic discourse about. They feel a little bit guilty saying, well, praise God, I know what it looks like, but I'm healed anyhow. See, that'd be a good thing to say. You're not denying you're limping because you're limping, but you know what you'd say. Well, I know it doesn't look good, but I tell you I don't. I'm not moved by what it looks like, I'm not moved by how I feel. I'm only moved by what I believe, and I believe I'm healed. I said we learn to say that, instead of trying to to explain that what the devil just is doing, see, we're not. That's not a systematic discourse. So we're setting our health back. Are y'all getting this now? Praise God, all right.
Speaker 1:So if we're highly developed in the idea that we are saved, then we need to be highly developed in the fact that we are healed, no matter how we feel, no matter how it looks, that we are blessed, no matter what our bank account says, that we are protected, no matter how dangerous it is out there, and we're not afraid to drive across this city. I'm not afraid of traffic. I am well able to get in my car and drive all the way across this city if necessary. I'm never afraid of traffic. I'm not afraid of the night. I'm, you know, wisdom. I'm not going to go out. I'm you know where we use wisdom. I'm not going to go out at night on purpose in a crummy part of town and by myself and have my purse hanging off of my hand and get be a sitting duck. No, that's wisdom. But I'm talking about people have unreasonable fears. No, we don't put up with fear. Amen. Are y'all getting this now? Reasonable fears no, we don't put up with fear. Amen. Are y'all getting this now?
Speaker 1:So Jesus said in John 15, 7, let's turn over to John. Get anything out of this tonight. I trust it's feeding your faith and your faith is becoming a real faithful servant to you. You know, when I was in Galveston a number of years ago it's been probably 20 years, 15, 20 years ago I have this. I won't call it a joke, it's just. But I do chuckle because I'm always wondering what am I going to see this time when I go to Galveston? I've been there many times, many times. That's where I go to pray. That's just. That's been. That's before we ever started the church. That's where I went to pray Back when Lakewood days.
Speaker 1:I'd go there and spend a day or two, get a hotel room and and just pray and get alone with God, study my Bible, do a lot of praying in the spirit, and so many times God will show me something that I've never seen. I mean I've seen things like you know. One time I saw three powered hang gliders out on East Beach. I mean I'd never seen that before, three of them all in formation, flying around. I've never seen another one since. It's been a long time ago.
Speaker 1:Another time, you know this time I'm going to talk about, I saw a guy in a kayak. He was on the beach. I was sitting on the seawall right across from Holiday Inn. That's where I was staying and the jetties is right there and uh, and so he's. He and I'm thinking kayak, are you crazy? I mean, what are you doing in a kayak? This is, I like to call it the gulf of america now, so I call it was the gulf of mexico back then, but it's gulf america now.
Speaker 1:So he's on the on in the surf, and the surf was really rough that day. It was really a strong wind and it was really rough that day. It was really a strong wind and it was really rough. White caps out there and then close to shore. I mean those waves were coming in pretty heavy and he's in a kayak and I'm just kind of chuckling.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking, is he going to try to launch off into this surf in a kayak? Really, I started chuckling, laughing, watching this guy. I'm 15 foot above sea level, that's what that is at the seawall, 15 foot above. I'm kind of looking down at him a little bit and he's out there just at the edge, and so he gets in there, he launches, he jumps in there and sits down and you know your feet are in front of you and you're sitting like this and he's got his little paddle and he did have some goggles on. He needed them because the waves were breaking over the bow and hitting him right full in the face. Wham, wham. He'd turn his head, try to breathe and he kept on going Wham. I'm just laughing.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking how long is he going to last? He can't last to the end of the jetties. There's no way. He got past the end of the jetties, there's no way. But he got past the end of the jetties and past the breaking of the waves to where now the waves are going up and down, up and down, up and down and he would disappear. He's far enough out where I couldn't see him some of the time and he'd pop up like a cork and well, he's still there. And then he's down like that and I'm still laughing and he's still paddling.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking where is he going to go, cuba? Where is he going? He's going. Where is he headed? I don't know. He was still, he was going strong. He's half a mile out there.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking, man, you're crazy, but anyway it was rough out there. I would not want to be out there in a kayak. He didn't have a. It didn't look like like he had any, uh, any protection or you know, any water wings or whatever. So anyway, the Holy ghost spoke to me. He said that is a picture of your faith.
Speaker 1:Your faith is working 24, seven. When you speak the word of God in faith, it's working. When you go to sleep, you don't have to look at it, you don't have to watch it. You can pay attention to other things. You can go to sleep and know that your faith, once it starts, it's not going to stop as long as you keep adding to it, as long as you hydrated and praise me for it. See, part of your servants. He's got to have water. Praise is water. Praise is water in your servant and feeding on words like this will cause your faith to have some nourishment so he can keep working for you Night and day, day and night. You don't have to stay awake all night long. You know handling things. I mean you can let your faith work 24-7. Hallelujah. So get your servant working, keep him properly fed and hydrated and be sure and give God the glory for all the good results. So faith, the believer's servant, makes the impossible possible.
Speaker 1:So I want to leave you with three things about it. Number one doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs. When you believe something, believe it. Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs. When you believe something, believe it and doubt your doubts. Where are doubts? Doubts are in your head. Let me tell you something Faith will work in your heart.
Speaker 1:With doubts in your head, I mean your head is going to think all kinds of things. Your head is going to say, oh no, it can't happen. Oh no, this time it's not going to work, it's too big, it's too. Oh, this time it's not going to work, it's too big, it's too. All this time you don't have enough faith for this. Well, you know, it's not about having enough faith. It's about faith, planting the faith you've got. All you've got to have is enough faith to speak the word. That's all it takes. It's just the word. All the powers in the word. You put all the pressure on the word. No pressure on you.
Speaker 1:So doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs. I mean, it's just sounds so simple, but that's what you have to do. Your mind is going to doubt. I mean, when the doctor says you've got six months to live, do you think your mind is going to just be at peace? No, your mind is going to be in turmoil. Your mind is going to picture the funeral. If you don't grab a hold of your thought life and say, no, I'm not thinking that way, I'm thinking life. Jesus came for me to have abundant life, super abundant in quantity and superior in quality. And cancer is not either one of those. I'm thinking life, I'm thinking longevity, and so you know you have to take authority over your mind. So don't doubt your doubts.
Speaker 1:Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs. Oh, I believe the word. I tell you, I doubt what I'm looking at. I don't trust it. I'm not moved by what I see. I'm not moved by what I hear. I'm not moved by how I feel I'm only moved by what I believe and I believe the word Smith Wigglesworth, I mean, mean he's had helped me so much I've had to use that so many times this last year over the things that we've faced in our house. In some days, you know, you just have a really good day and some days are not so good. And I sat out in the and you know, in the driveway more than once of the assisted living house where claire and where gladys was, uh, for eight months. She's's home now, thank God. But I just say I just go through that. I say, well, I'm not moved by what I see, I'm not moved by how I feel, I'm only moved by what I believe and I believe the word. I believe my wife's healed and I don't care what it looks like. Some days it doesn't look too good, some days it looks just better than others. Amen, all right.
Speaker 1:John 15, 7. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it will be done unto you. If you abide in me, well, you automatically abide in Christ legally when you get saved, because the Holy Spirit baptizes you into Christ. So you abide in him legally, but then, experientially, you have to stay close to God, you have to choose to stay close to him. You know, you can legally abide in him yes, I'm born again but you don't live like it.
Speaker 1:I've seen people that just didn't live like the Christian life very well and they just don't. They're not abiding in him experientially, they just they're just. You know, I talked to a guy one time oh, I got saved when I was in seventh grade and I thought that guy's lost as a goose. He's never lived for God. I've known him all of his life, you know, and he's trying to defend some decision he made at the church, the Baptist church, when he went down the aisle and got saved at, you know, in the seventh grade. Well, he never lived it. I mean, he was the biggest loser in school. Now he's an alcoholic with cirrhosis of the liver and he died a couple of years after that and I never could get him to ever really ask Jesus to come into his heart and really be born again. I think he just joined the church. He didn't really join Jesus, see.
Speaker 1:So if you abide in me and my words abide in you, see, take the, take the Ramah of God, take that God breathed word and let it, let it be in you to release against your mountain. You shall ask what you will and it'll be done on you. That word ask means to make a demand, to make a demand. So you've heard this testimony before, but I feel in my heart to give it again.
Speaker 1:I had signed a contract to build a custom house in Richmond, texas. I live in Spring, and this house was on a lot these people own. They were husband and wife. Both were engineers. That was a real challenge. It's like herding grasshoppers. I'm an engineer by education too, but I mean, oh God, they just wanted me to be a Google. They wanted me to do the research on every little cockamamie idea they had that they wanted to employ in their house. I said, look, I didn't sign up to do that. I build the houses like I build them.
Speaker 1:If you want something different, you'll have to do it on your nickel and your time After you move in. I'm going my way. I don't have time to have this fan. They wanted something on an underground water pipe, air conditioning that you drill a water well, and I said I'm not doing that. I'm not even wasting my time. Look, I know what works. That's what you're going to get. You want something different? Do that after you move in. You know, I just over and over, had to do that.
Speaker 1:But it's 57 miles from my house to that job site and the car I had was an 86 Oldsmobile that had 300,000 miles on it. It had 160,000 miles on an overhauled engine and transmission. So that's, I mean, I know it's not going to last. I know it's going to let me down in the next six months. I just know that that car is not going to get me back and forth and I have to have a car.
Speaker 1:I've got to have a car. I have no credit card so I can't rent a car. I've got to have a car. I have no credit card so I can't rent a car If I break down. I have no credit card so I can't rent a car and I really don't have enough credit to go buy a car. But I have to have a car. That looks like a mountain, doesn't it? It'd be kind of a mountain. It was a mountain to me. It seemed insurmountable, but I got down. I said now, lord, insurmountable, but I got down. I said now, lord, see, ramah is inside of me. I said, lord, I've got to have a car. Now this car is not, you know. Thank you for that contract. I've signed a cost plus contract with them, cost plus 15% and that's a good deal for me and I needed it, needed that cash flow. But I said this car is not going to make it. I need another car. I don't care what kind of car it is. But the Bible says given shall be given unto you. Good measure pressed down, shaken together, running over.
Speaker 1:I want you to look back in my records and notice that I gave a fight at 1940 Cadillac Lakewood number of years ago. Beautiful car, put brand new, wide whites on it. I had the carburetor overhauled, I had the push button radio sent off and fixed that. I mean I fixed that thing up and they sold it for a big chunk of money and and I blessed them and and then I gave away a 77 Chevrolet van. Was in good repair, had had a lot of miles on it but it was well taken care of, had a lot of miles left in it. I gave that one. I had a 84 Skylark Buick Skylark in my driveway that I sold for $1,800 and put the whole thing in the offering.
Speaker 1:Lord, I've sown my seed in the car area, and you said in your word that a seed will reproduce after its own kind. So I've sown cars, produce after its own kind. So I've sown cars. Now I need a car. See, I made my case. I said I made my case. See this, I made a demand. Not, I didn't demand, I demand. No, I made a demand on the covenant that I have with my, my father, and I said so, father, I just know, in Jesus name, that I'm going to have that. I'm going to keep driving this thing as long as I have to, but I know there's a car on the way. I know there's a car on the way. Thank you, lord. I appreciate it. I don't care what kind, doesn't matter, doesn't matter what color, just as long as it's reliable. It's got to at least get me through this construction project.
Speaker 1:And so, you know, 30 days went by and nothing, nothing, nothing. My phone rings. Young man that I know really well is a friend of mine, he lives in Lareda at the time and he started talking to me and said you know, I drive in my car. The other day, you know, rock came up and broke the windshield and I said, lord, how did that happen. That's terrible. This is a nice car.
Speaker 1:Now my windshield cracked all the way through and he said well, I told you to give your car. He said you know, the day before he told me to give the car. And I said, oh, I can't be God, I don't have another car If I give this car away. I'm on the street. I got to go to class. I'm in college, I'm taking classes, I go to work. I got to have a car. I don't have a car if I give this car, that can't be God. That's the devil Devil. Get out of here. And so the rock. He said I told you to give the car. That's not right now, that can't be god.
Speaker 1:And so the next day he, he was at this intersection and he kind of cut an 18 wheeler off, a little too short, and the 18 wheeler ran into the back of his rear door and dented the door. In boy, he got a ticket and it messed his car up. And now he's really having a conversation and he's telling me this whole story on the phone. And I said man, that's terrible. And so I'm not thinking about me at all, I'm thinking about him, I'm feeling sorry for him. And he said so I went to the Lord after I got all that and was driving away.
Speaker 1:I said, lord, this is ridiculous. What in the world? He said I told you to give the car. He said, all right, you're going to have to give me scripture and verse. I am not going to give this car. I don't have another car to take its place. Don't you understand the trouble I'm going to have? What am I going to do? You're going to have to give me scripture and verse, luke 16, four, just like that, like lightning, he said man, my heart started beating. I didn't have a Bible in the car. I had to run home. I'm late for class.
Speaker 1:I ran up the apartment stairs, went in, busted in my front door, went and grabbed my Bible, looked it up. A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and no sign shall be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Sign and no sign shall be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. He said so, uh, he said uh, uh, brother John. He said the question I have for you is do I have to fix the car before I give it away? And I said, oh, oh, I wish you hadn't asked me that. I said I hate to tell you, but would you give God a one-eared lamb? Would you give him a one-eyed goat? I mean, no, you got to fix the car. You got to fix the windshield. You got to fix the rear door. I mean, you got to fix the car. You can't give the car wrecked. He said I knew that's what you were going to say. God told me to give the car to you. I said oh, no, no, no. He gave the car to me and he paid to have the door fixed. He paid to have the windshield fixed.
Speaker 1:I drove that car another three years until we started this church. It got me down the road. It was a 300 diesel, a Mercedes 81, 300 diesel, which was a five-cylinder diesel. I mean, it'd run and run like a top. You know, hallelujah, glory to God.
Speaker 1:My servant went out and got the car. Now, you know, this is the thing you know later on. It wasn't right then, but later on he said you know, that car is interesting. He said because he wasn't my first choice, my first two choices, it would have been easy for them to give you a car. It would have been out of their abundance. They had no problems.
Speaker 1:I had to go to him because he was willing, even though it really inconvenienced him. He was willing to do and obey me. And I just want to say today he's got two Corvettes, one Z06 and one brand new, really pretty ones too, convertibles. So he's been blessed in the car area. All right, praise God. Are you getting anything out of this?
Speaker 1:Doubt your doubts. Believe your beliefs. Number two believe in your heart. What you say comes to pass Systematic discourse. You do have to. You have to believe it in your heart. You have to believe in your heart. Sometimes you have to take a little time to meditate, take a little time to think about what you're going to believe. For before you do it, take a little time.
Speaker 1:I heard Ben Copeland say this years, 40 plus years ago. He said most Christians that I have in my experience pray too soon. They just go off half cocked. They pray for something without really thinking about what they're praying about. They're more of a begging and they really don't. They're not fully persuaded, like Abraham was, or not fully persuaded. It's God's will for them to have that. So they're just shooting. You know shooting shotgun prayers.
Speaker 1:You know, you, the true Bible faith only exists. It begins where the will of God is known. You've got to know what God's will is for you. I knew it was God's will not to leave me stranded on. The will of God is known. You've got to know what God's will is for you. I knew it was God's will not to leave me stranded on the side of the road. I knew it was God's will for me to get a return on all those cars that I had sown back in other times in my life. And so it helps to know what God's will is before you get started. So take some time. God's will is before you get started, so take some time.
Speaker 1:Find out from the Word of God what it says about your situation, if it's healing or if it's provision, whatever it is. Find what the Bible says about your situation and meditate on that Word until you're fully persuaded in your heart so that you can speak in faith. And then, finally, the last one is hydrate your crop. Praise God for the answer. Don't forget to praise God.
Speaker 1:Praise God when it doesn't look like it's coming to pass. Praise God when it looks like it's farther away than ever. Praise God when it just looks like oh man, this ain't work. No, praise God. Keep praising hydrate. Keep praising him for that word and use the word to praise him. You can praise him with the word and when you do, you'll see that your servant will produce Faith. A believer servant. Come on, lift your hands and receive tonight. Praise God. I trust this encourages you. I'm building your faith for your milestone year. I want you all to receive everything that God has for you and all of those that are here at Glorious Way in person, and also everybody watching and I know that some of you are fighting a battle and thank God, for you've got all the faith you need to win. Praise God.