CHAPTER 7
WALKING BY FAITH = WALKING IN THE SPIRIT.
I heard a preacher on the radio say that if a Christian is not healed, it was not because they lacked faith. He said that God sometimes has a purpose for Christians to be sick. I am not sure which Bible he gets his doctrine from, but it is not the Bible I own and read. If you are a Christian and you are sick, or crippled, or blind, or paralyzed, or have the plague, it is NOT God’s will for your life!
Does God love us? If God wants to teach us a lesson by allowing us to have AIDS or cancer, He has a funny way of showing us His love. I am sure that my earthly Dad would not give me cancer to teach me a lesson.
Why would my heavenly Father give me cancer to teach me a lesson?
If you are a Christian sitting in a wheel chair or confined to a bed and you are hoping that someday you will finally learn your lesson and God will send some man or woman of great faith to cure your paralyzed legs, I am afraid you are in for a long wait. Lack of faith in God’s Word is the only reason a Christian will remain sick!
ACCORDING TO “YOUR” FAITH BE IT UNTO YOU.
MATTHEW 9:29
AND HE COULD THERE DO NO MIGHTY WORK, SAVE THAT HE LAID HIS HANDS UPON A FEW SICK FOLK, AND HEALED THEM.
AND HE MARVELLED BECAUSE OF “THEIR” UNBELIEF.
MARK 6:5-6
If Jesus Christ Himself was prevented from doing a mighty work because of the people’s unbelief, how can Billy Graham, or Oral Roberts, or Benny Hinn do a mighty work in spite of a person’s unbelief? I am confident nobody will heal you, including God Himself, if you do not believe God’s Word.
Now people are going to say, “Mike, you are so cruel, you know people can’t help being blind or crippled or sickly.” But I say, “Oh yes they can!” Guess what, I have some good news for all the sick people in the world. There are two easy steps you can take to be healthy, to be wealthy, to be free, to be happy, and to be wise.
First step: Be converted!
THEREFORE SPEAK I TO THEM IN PARABLES; BECAUSE THEY SEEING SEE NOT; AND HEARING THEY HEAR NOT, NEITHER DO THEY UNDERSTAND.
AND IN THEM IS FULFILLED THE PROPHECY OF ESAIAS, WHICH SAITH, BY HEARING YE SHALL HEAR, AND SHALL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND SEEING YE SHALL SEE, AND SHALL NOT PERCEIVE:
FOR THIS PEOPLE’S HEART IS WAXED GROSS, AND THEIR EARS ARE DULL OF HEARING, AND THEIR EYES THEY HAVE CLOSED; LEST AT ANY TIME THEY SHOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND SHOULD UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART, AND SHOULD BE “CONVERTED”, AND I SHOULD “HEAL” THEM.
MATTHEW 13:13-15
CONVERTED. 1994. Ep-ee-stref’-o; to revert (literally, figuratively or morally): - come (go) again, convert, (re-) turn (about, again). (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984.)
You have to do the opposite of what you have been doing. You have to stop your rebellion against God and confess the LORD Jesus Christ and believe that God raised Him from the dead.
Second step: Speak God’s Word to the problem.
WE HAVING THE SAME SPIRIT OF FAITH, ACCORDING AS IT IS WRITTEN, I BELIEVED, AND THEREFORE HAVE I “SPOKEN”; WE ALSO BELIEVE, AND THEREFORE “SPEAK”.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:13
Instead of not believing and listening to God’s Word, you have to believe and begin speaking and hearing what God has to say about a situation. Do not listen to anybody who contradicts the Word of God. If you go to a church where the Preacher contradicts God’s Word, leave and find a church where the Word of God is preached. Instead of doubting God’s Word, you have to start believing and speaking God’s Word.
When God was giving me revelation about memorizing and speaking his Word, one night I had a vivid dream. In my dream, I was in an office with about a dozen people and they were all sitting at desks reading a book and writing in notepads. I also had a book and notepad but I didn’t know what to do. I just sat looking around at everyone as one by one, each person finished writing in their notepads, closed their book and left the room.
Eventually, there was only one man left in the room with me and after he finally finished writing, he stood up and closed his book. Before he left, he said: “Once you learn how to cipher, you only have to work two or three hours a day and you can take the rest of the day off.” I was thinking to myself, “I want to work two or three hours a day, I have to go to the library and find a book about ciphering,” then I woke up! I thought it was a strange dream and I didn’t understand it, but it was one of those vivid dreams that I believe are given by God and have special meaning, so I prayed for revelation and looked up cipher.
Cipher, 1. To express in secret writing. 2. To find out by ciphering; to solve by arithmetic; as, to cipher the cost. 3. To make out; to interpret; to decipher. (Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Simon and Schuster, 1979.)
Eventually, when I was talking about my dream to my brother and sister, the revelation came to me.
AND THE DISCIPLES CAME, AND SAID UNTO HIM, WHY SPEAKEST THOU UNTO THEM IN “PARABLES” ?
MATTHEW 13:10
PARABLES - 3850. Par-ab-ol-ay’: a similitude (“parable”), i.e. (symbol) fictitious narrative (of common life conveying a moral), adage; - comparison, figure, parable, proverb. (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984.)
HE ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO THEM, BECAUSE IT IS GIVEN UNTO YOU TO KNOW THE MYSTERIES OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, BUT TO THEM IT IS NOT GIVEN.
FOR WHOSOEVER HATH, TO HIM SHALL BE GIVEN, AND HE SHALL HAVE MORE “ABUNDANCE”: BUT WHOSOEVER HATH NOT, FROM HIM SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY EVEN WHAT HE HATH.
THEREFORE SPEAK I TO THEM IN PARABLES: BECAUSE THEY SEEING SEE NOT; AND HEARING THEY HEAR NOT, NEITHER DO THEY UNDERSTAND.
MATTHEW 13:11-13
ABUNDANCE - 4052. Per-is-sooy’-o: to superabound (in quantity or quality) be in excess, be superfluous; also (translated) to cause to superabound or excel. – (make, more) abound, (have, have more), abundance, (be more) abundant, be the better, enough and to spare, exceed, excel, increase, be left, redound, remain (over and above). (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984.)
Why did Jesus speak in parables to the crowds and only explain the parables to his disciples when they were alone?
I believe it was because his disciples put the Kingdom of God before everything else. They left their work, their homes, their families, and everything else important to them in order to follow Jesus. The disciples made following Jesus Christ their primary occupation. That is the kind of person God is looking for, God is looking for the cream of the crop, God demands the very best. God demands His tithe of first fruits. The Apostle Paul explained it like this:
BUT WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM; FOR HE THAT COMETH TO GOD MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS, AND THAT HE IS A REWARDER OF THEM THAT “DILIGENTLY” SEEK HIM.
HEBREWS 11:6
DILIGENTLY - 1567. Ek-sat-teh’o: to search out, i.e. (figuratively) investigate, crave, demand, (by Hebrew) worship: - enquire, seek after (carefully, diligently). (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984.)
God’s chosen are not people who call themselves Jews or people who call themselves Christians. God’s chosen people love God with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their mind, and with all their strength. God wants people who love him as much as he loves them. God wants people who diligently seek Him in His Word, like Paul the Apostle:
YEA DOUBTLESS, AND I COUNT ALL THINGS BUT LOSS FOR THE EXCELLENCY OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST JESUS MY LORD: FOR WHOM I HAVE SUFFERED THE LOSS OF ALL THINGS, AND DO COUNT THEM BUT DUNG, THAT I MAY WIN CHRIST,
AND BE FOUND IN HIM, NOT HAVING MINE OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH IS OF THE LAW, BUT THAT WHICH IS THROUGH THE FAITH OF CHRIST, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WHICH IS OF GOD BY FAITH:
THAT I MAY KNOW HIM, AND THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION, AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF HIS SUFFERINGS, BEING MADE CONFORMABLE UNTO HIS DEATH;
IF BY ANY MEANS I MIGHT ATTAIN UNTO THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.
PHILIPPIANS 3:8-11
The books in the Old and New Testament are similar to books of ciphers. Although the text has a plain and obvious meaning; the text also contains deep and hidden meaning. You cannot read it once and expect to know all the mysteries of God and the books of the Bible were never intended to be simple texts. God has made His Word to be like a hidden treasure.
AGAIN, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE UNTO TREASURE HID IN A FIELD; THE WHICH WHEN A MAN HATH FOUND, HE HIDETH, AND FOR JOY THEREOF GOETH