This is the first episode in a series on the ABC's of Faith. Here I discuss the importance of faith.
The promises set forth in the Bible present a problem for the Christian. For example Philippians 4:19 says "and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
Well then how come my needs aren't supplied? One obvious answer is that
the promise is a lie, it's not true, it's con, but that's hardly an
acceptable answer for a Christian. So Christians have come up with a
variety of ways of explaining the discrepancy between reality and the
promises.
Some Christians say that the promises are for a future time. "Eschatological" is the favorite word of many Christians. These Christians might say, 'This promises is true but will only be fully true in some future world.'
Other Christians respond that the promises are spiritual. What they
mean by spiritual, other than not susceptible to disconfirmation by the
senses, isn't particularly clear. In this example they might suggest
that the needs referred to are "spiritual" needs.
While both of those answers help to resolve the discrepancy they
don't seem to fit the simple meaning of the scripture. If someone wrote
you a letter telling you they would take care of all your needs, you
probably wouldn't expect that they were promising to do so at some
unknown point in the future. Neither would you expect that they were
talking about spiritual needs.
I believe there is a better solution to the problem of unfulfilled
Biblical promises, faith. Faith is the requirement to receiving from
God. Without faith none of the Bible promises will become real in our
lives. It is faith that pleases God, that receives answers to prayers
and accesses the grace of God. It is faith which allows us to inherit
the promises and receive the blessings. It is through faith that we can
be healed, heal others and do the works of Jesus.
In this episode I discuss the importance of faith. These are my Keynote slides with audio attached.
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Audio MP3
We've been teaching on the subject of prosperity for quite a while
now, but before continuing I want to discuss the why of prosperity. Why
does God want you to prosper? There's more that one reason that God
desires are prosperity. Prosperity is good and God is a good God
therefore he desires our prosperity… God has promised to prosper us, to
keep his promise we have to prosper… It takes money to help the poor so
we need to prosper in order to be able to help them. But I believe the
most important reason God wants us to prosper is to free us from
dependence on the world system. He wants us free to serve him. He wants
us free to do what he has created and called us to do. God has promised
to prosper us materially and financially so that we can be free to
serve him. That's what this message is about.
