|
|
|
|
Tapping Into God's Power by Richard Wayne Fry, Overseer
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1988 by Richard Wayne Fry, Overseer. Published by POLITIC. Printed in the United States Of America. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system or database, or translated into any human or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, photocopying, recording, manual, or otherwise, or disclosed to third parties without the express written consent of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Making copies of any part of this publication for any purpose other than your own personal use is a violation of United States copyright laws. TEXT: JOHN 3:18 Here we see, in one simple verse of scripture, the basis upon which God approaches all mankind, i.e. FAITH (or lack of it). If we are walking free from condemnation; free from any sense of lack, guilt or wrong, we are walking in FAITH and we are pleasing to God. Conversely, we can not walk in FAITH if we are under condemnation. We must acknowledge; therefore, that just as there is a condemnation of sin, there is also a RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH! THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH God is our Righteousness (vss. 21 & 22) and we are made, or declared righteous when we demonstrate FAITH in Jesus Christ. But John 3:18 offers the real problem to FAITH i.e.; you can not have FAITH in God if you are under condemnation. So now the obvious question is, "How do we overcome the problem?" The answer is both simple and profound. Abraham was a sinner with no right standing before God. His relationship with God could not be rectified by any works of merit (Romans 3:20). But God made a Promise to Abraham, and it is through the Promise of God that he came into the Righteousness of Faith. Even though Abraham was a sinner, he believed God would still perform what he had promised. God called his believing the Promise: RIGHTEOUSNESS! You never have a faith problem. If you have a problem, it is a Righteousness problem. Only one thing is going to take away our Righteousness . UNBELIEF
REMEMBER: The FACT of Righteousness is BY FAITH. The EVIDENCE of Righteousness is BY
WORKS. Now look again at Romans 4:18-20. Abraham, against all hope, believed
that what God had said; he would also do. TEXT: JOHN 3:18 You see how our believing the PROMISES of God takes
away our condemnation, when and where we believe him? HOPE AND FAITH HEBREWS 11:1 ROMANS 5:1-5
HEBREWS 6:18-19
1 PETER 3:15 Faith is designed by hope
Some people say they are, "...against that name it and claim it stuff." While it is true that there is much more to receiving from God than just naming it and claiming it, we need to face up to the fact that that is indeed where the process begins. Hebrews 10:23, in the KJV says, "Let us hold fat the profession of our faith without wavering ..." But other translations read as follows: EMPHASIZED BIBLE: "Let us hold fast the confession of the HOPE without wavering..." NEW ENGLISH BIBLE: "Let us be firm and unswerving in the confession of our HOPE ..." JERUSALEM BIBLE: Let us keep firm in the HOPE we profess ... AMPLIFIED BIBLE: So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the HOPE we cherish and confess, and our acknowledgment of it. WEYMOUTH BIBLE: Let us hold firmly to an unflinching avowal of our hope HOPE MOFFATT BIBLE: Let us hold the HOPE we avow without wavering ... LIVING BIBLE: Now we can look forward to the salvation God has promised us. There is no longer any room for doubt, and we can tell others that salvation is ours ... NSAB: Let us hold fast the confession of our HOPE without wavering... NIV: Let us hold unswervingly to the HOPE we profess ... We must confess our hope bravely or, to rephrase. We must confess the
Promises of God bravely. Confession of our Hope is confession of the Promises of
God because that is where your Hope begins. HEBREWS 11:1 NO HOPE =NO FAITH NO FAITH =NO RIGHTEOUSNESS NO RIGHTEOUSNESS = NO HOPE It is impossible for you to operate in FAITH beyond your knowledge of God’s PROMISES FOR YOU!! Remember: If you do not believe a Promise of God, you have no righteousness before God in THAT AREA OF YOUR LIFE. Faith is NOW. Hope is FUTURE. If you are trying to negotiate your FUTURE, you are still operating in
HOPE 2 CORINTHIANS 10:15 It is the confession of the Promises of God that increases our faith. Hope and faith both come from GOD’S WORD. Where does Hope (which is future) end, and Faith (now) begin?
THE GAUGE FOR FAITH Having advanced to Faith, how do we gauge the level of Faith we have advanced to? Also, how do we differentiate between genuine Faith, Foolishness, or Mental Ascent? HEBREWS 12:1-2a No doubt we have all heard someone teach on these two verses of scripture and; possibly, some of us even heard the Holy Ghost teach on these two verses...Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith. What is the gauge for faith? If we are honest, we must all admit to categorizing people into slots of GREAT FAITH, Little Faith, and no faith. But what do we base our categorizing upon? All too often we base it upon what a person does or does not have. WE DO WELL TO REMEMBER, WHEN JUDGING OTHERS, THAT THEY ARE JUDGING US WITH THE SAME GOD-LIKE AND SUPERIOR IMPARTIALITY! Nice car, nice house = GREAT FAITH I’m certain we have all heard declarations such as, "If he would
stretch his faith out there, he could be driving a better car." If these
things are a successful gauge for faith, we are going to find it used in the New
Testament. HEBREWS 11:32
HEBREWS 11:36-37 The first three words, `And others had’, comes from; `through faith’,
in verse 33. We are speaking about the same principle i.e., that which was
obtained THROUGH FAITH! What gets you into the FAITH HALL OF FAME in the first
place? The answer may not be as obvious as you think! HEBREWS 11:1-5 Too much emphasis has been placed upon Faith, when it is PLEASING GOD that gets you into the FAITH HALL OF FAME! You can be sick and die on your faith. Faith is only a vehicle for
PLEASING GOD! HEBREWS 11:39-40 All of these obtained a good report THROUGH FAITH! Now, HEBREWS 12:1 should actually be HEBREWS 11:41. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses (that is how you know you name belongs in verse32 of chapter 11) let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Some people have the idea that the Body of Christ is down in a three-point stance, waiting for the starting gun, to see who will come in first place. Jesus already came in first place. To help you understand; change the word `run’ to `work at’, and change the word `race’ to `task’. Now our goal is to, "work at, with patience, the task that is set before us." Our task is to please God. What does it mean to lay aside every weight and the sin? Most of us are all too well acquainted with what sin is, but what is the weight? Weight ALWAYS carries with it the idea of pressure. So the Spirit of God is saying to lay aside all of those things that would bring pressure to bear upon you. Pressure is going to come in at least two ways:
For instance, you go our shopping for a car and you find a new Mercedes Benz, robin’s egg blue with orange polka-dots; you believe God is going to supply you with this car. Then you go to church and you tell everybody that you are believing God for a new Mercedes Benz, robin’s egg blue with orange polka-dots. You have just created a weight for yourself! You have just put pressure on yourself. Ask anyone who is a Believer, "How are we saved?", and you will
get a 50/50 split. Half will say by grace and the other half will say by faith. EPHESIANS 2:5, 8 We are saved by Grace! Faith is only the vehicle. We are not saved by
faith. Faith worketh...Faith is a produce. JAMES 4:17-18 Faith requires work. Our faith does not put God in a position where he has
to do something for us. God’s Promises already have him in a position such as
that. Your faith will never become a lever against God. The only thing we are
ever going to maneuver with our faith is circumstances. If we could force God to
act, simply by exercising our faith, we would be greater than he is. PHILIPPIANS 4:9-11 Content means to be independent of external circumstances! 1 TIMOTHY 6:5 Many times we cut the Scriptures off before they have had sufficient opportunity to speak to us. Most of us will agree that the acquisition of goods or money does not make us pleasing to God. But the same holds true of the acquisition of Biblical data. Just because we gain understanding of God’s Word does not mean we are Godly, or that we are in any way pleasing God. 2 Timothy 3:1-7 makes that painfully clear. TEXT: JOHN 3:18 Thus far, we have not entered directly into the Power of God, but we have very clearly marked off the doorway. Only through the Righteousness of Faith, resulting from believing the Promises of God, do we walk free from any sense of condemnation. Since the gauge for faith is pleasing God, we need to please him by doing what he says, not merely learning what he says. WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF GOD’S POWER FOR
US? The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Power of God! A first glance this would appear to be lacking in some respect. I mean, after all, to declare that the sum total of God’s Power for us is found neatly wrapped up in the gospel of Christ seems a gross over statement. But when we understand the purpose of the Gospel, and the resulting effect it has on the lives of those who hear it and walk in it, we begin to see the magnitude of our God. First let us examine some of the things that Jesus spoke directly to his disciples. LUKE 10:19-29 In verse 19, the first word, `power’, is the Greek word exousia, or authority. The second word, `power’, is dunamis, or power: inherent ability. Ergo, Jesus declared, "I give unto you the authority i.e., the power of will and commands that must be submitted to by others and obeyed; to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power i.e., the strength that the enemy puts forth ..." Now, in the 20th verse, Jesus qualifies verse 19, and declares to us, point blank, HOW TO TAP INTO THE POWER OF GOD!! He begins by telling the disciples that they are right in rejoicing, but they are rejoicing for the wrong reasons; do not rejoice because evil spirits obey you when you speak in my name. He concludes by telling them the real reason for rejoicing, namely, because their names are written in heaven. There is a very profound truth here that needs to be brought to surface. When we understand the value of our names being written in heaven, we will understand HOW TO TAP INTO THE POWER OF GOD! SUBMISSION Jesus has just said that; `The devils are subject to you when you speak in my name only because you are submitted to me, and I am the source of your power. that is precisely how we enter into the Power of God; being submitted to Him. We hear people speak about operating in the Power of God, and so we do.
But many people have the idea that we are allowed to use the Power of God. 1
Corinthians 12:8-11, speaking on the nine gifts of the Spirit, makes it quite
evident that the operation of these gifts is, "...as the Spirit
wills." WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE THE POWER OF GOD: WE, THROUGH SUBMISSION, ALLOW GOD’S POWER TO USE US! By being a yielded and submissive instrument in the hands of God, we give him the right, through our expectation, to release his power through us. How gripping that is! By being yielded to God’s will we become channels, through which the power of his will can flow unhindered. 2 CORINTHIANS 5:18 Compare with LUKE 17:6-8, 14-17 God has given us (believers) the ministry of service of Reconciliation. You are a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ. You have favor with God. You are Righteous before God. You are submitted to Christ as Lord, Savior, Redeemer, Creator of Heaven and Earth. So God is channeling his power through you for the ministry of Reconciliation. Now look at verse 19. Not only has God given us the ministry of Reconciliation, he has committed to us the WORD OF RECONCILIATION. Recall Romans 1:16, For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth: to the Jew first and also the Greek. God could not lie. That which he promised he had to perform. Abraham
believed the Promise and was yielded to God through the Promise. Therefore, God’s
Power was channeled through Abraham to fulfill the Promise. Comparably, God has
given to us the Word of Reconciliation which is founded upon God’s Promises.
We believe God’s Promise and we submit ourselves to it. Then God is able to
direct his Power through us. The Power of the Word of Reconciliation. The Word
equipped to Reconcile the world back to the Father; the Word equipped to
reconcile the sick back to health; the Word equipped to reconcile the poor back
to prosperity, etc. To better comprehend this, picture a water wheel. The water
flows continually; it is the same water flowing. When this water power comes in
contact with the waterwheel, the power is utilized for a specific purpose; to
grind grain, run equipment, produce electricity, etc. But the power in the
flowing water is utilized only while the wheel is yielded to , and moving with,
the water. If the waterwheel should jam in a fixed position, the water still
flows, the power still exists, but it is not being utilized because the water
wheel is no longer yielded to the flow of power. ANOINTING ACTS 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of
Nazareth, a man approved of God among you BY MIRACLES, WONDERS AND SIGNS,
WHICH GOD DID by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves know ... ACTS 10:38 How God ANOINTED Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; FOR GOD WAS WITH HIM! God’s Anointing is his Approval of our lives. The more we yield to God, the greater God’s Approval, thus, the greater the Anointing. God’s Anointing makes our lives sacrosanct. The Anointing is a manifestation of God’s ability, in operation in our lives, to confirm the WORD. In the two verses of scripture we have just read, we see God’s approval of Jesus is in the fact that God worked miracles, wonders, and signs through the hands of Jesus. We also see that the prerequisite for God working these miracles, signs and wonders through Jesus is; first, God Anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost and with Power, because that is God has chosen to operate through men. Let’s consider Jesus! Jesus was a man who trusted completely in God. Jesus was Righteousness before the Father because he believed the Father and always did those things that were pleasing to the Father. We know that Jesus was NOT righteous before the Father because he had never sinned, because we read in Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law shall NO FLESH be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Jesus was a man of faith; therefore his faith justified him in the eyes of
God. God; therefore Anointed Jesus with the Holy Ghost and Power, as a show of
his Approval, and worked miracles, wonders, and signs through him. Men could see
that he was Approved by God and that these miracles, signs and wonders were
worked by God through him cf. John 3:2. Jesus proclaimed the Words of the
Father. If the Father had not said it, Jesus did not say it either. Jesus was
submitted to the Father. Jesus was yielded to the Holy Ghost. When Jesus
operated under the Anointing, he always blessed others, never himself. THE ANOINTING ALWAYS WORKS FOR THE BENEFIT OF OTHERS! Now we need to examine some examples of Jesus in Action. LUKE 4:18-19; ISAIAH 61:1ff God anointed Jesus to preach the Gospel. ROMANS 1:16 "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for
it is the Power of God." LUKE 9:37-45 Verse 40 says they could not, it does not say that they would not. They had obviously tried, in some fashion, to cast the unclean sprit out, without success. Verse 42 shows Jesus casting the unclean spirit out with great power. No doubt the disciples had used the name of Jesus, but the difference between Jesus and the disciples was that Jesus was operating under the Anointing. Jesus was speaking the Word (Gospel = Power) and acting in Faith. The
anointing of God was upon him. The disciples were trying to operate without
faith (verse 41) so they were not pleasing God, (Hebrews 11:6); therefore, they
were not approved of God, with God working powerful through them. LUKE 5:17-26 vs 17 And it came to pass on a certain day, AS HE WAS TEACHING, that there were Pharisees and Doctors of the Law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and THE POWER OF GOD WAS PRESENT TO HEAL THEM. Notice that God’s Power was actively present to heal them because Jesus was teaching: proclaiming the Word. vs 18 ff And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said to him, man thy sins are forgiven thee. And the Scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, rise up and walk.? But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath Power upon earth to forgive sins, (He said unto the sick of the palsy), I say unto thee, arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. Take notice. Even though Jesus was teaching the Scribes and the Pharisees, and even though the Power of God was present to heal the Scribes and Pharisees; none of them were healed! They had heard the Word of Promise and the Power of God was activated (by the Word) to heal: but they didn’t believe it! Look at Hebrews 4:1-2. Do you see how powerful that is? Because they didn’t believe the Word of Promise they had no Righteousness for healing. You can still hear them, "I just do not believe in that healing stuff. Healing passed away with the last of the Prophets." absurd you say? Indeed! And yet the legalistic voice of the Pharisees still resounds today. The only reason they were there was to find fault in Jesus that they might accuse him. Only the one who came in Hope (from promise) of healing received the Power that was Present for all! vs 25 And immediately he rose up before them, and
took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. AN IMPORTANT POINT This man did not glorify God for his sickness, neither did he proclaim what God had taught him in this sickness. He glorified God only for his healing and all he learned from the sickness was how to be sick. vs 26 And they were ALL amazed, and they glorified
God (not for the sickness), and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen
strange things today. ISAIAH 10:27 The yoke symbolizes bondage. Here the Prophet says that because of the Anointing the yoke (bondage) would be destroyed. You will recall that earlier we stated that, "God’s Anointing is his Approval of our lives." God’s anointing is upon his Word. God confirms his Word, not us. God hastens his Word to perform it. God’s Word is forever established in heaven. Here we see a man freed from the bondage of the palsy. Jesus spoke the
Word to him; the Word of healing for spirit and flesh, and God confirmed his
Word. the man is then directed to leave. One might well question why Jesus would
have the man leave when he is glorifying God. But recall, he is entirely
surrounded by doubt and unbelief. If this man is going to remain healed, he will
have to remove himself from the poisonous effects of the anti-faith that is
present in the place. TEXT: JOHN 3:18 He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in THE NAME OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD. I do not want to labor the point, but Jesus is the
Word of God made flesh. God’s anointing is on his Word; his Word became flesh
and dwelt among us in the person of Jesus the Christ. GLORY DEFINITION: The glory of God is the revelation and manifestation of all that he has and is .. ., it is said of a self revelation in which God manifests all the goodness that is His. W.E. VINE’S: Expository Dictionary of N.T. Words. On giving glory to God, I quote from Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: To give or ascribe glory to God, why and how being evident in each case from the context: thus, by declaring one’s gratitude to God for a benefit received, LUKE 17:18; BY NOT DISTRUSTING GOD’S PROMISES, ROMANS 4:20; ACKNOWLEDGE THAT GOD KNOWS ALL THINGS, AND SHOW THAT YOU BELIEVE IT BY THE CONFESSION YOU ARE ABOUT TO MAKE, SO AS TO HONOR GOD AND PROMOTE HIS GLORY, JOHN 9:24; ROMANS 15:7; 1 CORINTHIANS 10:31; PHILIPPIANS 1:11; 2:11 Just a few words on Glory before we conclude this study on TAPPING INTO
THE POWER OF GOD. JOHN 17:17-22 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy Word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them: that they may be one, even as we are one. We have already been given the manifested presence of god. The same glory that has been given to Jesus has been given to each born again child of God. All of God’s goodness has been given to us. We must not deny this manifestation with either our speech or our action. God has given us his Word, and he himself will perform it. |
|
|
