Conquer by Faith
Bound for Conquest Series, Part 4
Sunday 12th March 2006
‘Without faith it is impossible to please God.’
Hebrews 11:6
Christians are to be the most positive people on earth! In a world of doubt, fear, and negativity, Christians can and should live with confidence and hope.
Without doubt, one of the primary keys of conquest is the key of faith. ‘Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.’ 1 John 5:4
Hebrews 11 catalogues a whole chapter of men and women through the ages who conquered by faith.
The world today is in the mess it is because people do not ‘live by faith.’ Instead they live by:
• The limitations of human logic,
• The unreliability of personal feelings,
• The unpredictability of circumstantial realities or
• The emptiness of religious rules and dogma.
The Bible, however, makes clear that this is not the way to live, even if these are commonly accepted ways of the world.
Faith in God, specifically faith in Christ and through Christ, is the only firm foundation for life.
The Christian life is to be a life of ever increasing faith where, as the apostle Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 5:7, ‘we live by faith, not by sight.’
Paul faced many difficulties in his life-including suffering, shipwreck, beatings and being let down by others but he lived a victorious life because he lived a life of faith. That is God’s plan for every one of us.
1. A Conquering Faith Will Be Totally God Centred
Conquering faith comes when your life is focussed on God and when you believe that:
• He is who He says He is
The basis of faith is that there is a God. ‘In the beginning God…’ Genesis 1:1.
There you go! No explanation: just declaration of a revelation.
He is the Creator God. He is a Holy God. He is a righteous God. He is a powerful God. He is a wonder working God. He is a faithful God. He is a loving God. He is a God who rescues and saves. He is a God of greatness and a God of tenderness who wants all peoples on earth to be blessed.
This is the God who revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and many others and caused them to become conquerors.
• He will do what He says He will do
Hebrews 11:6 ‘…. and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.’
God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. When people get serious in their prayerful pursuit of God, God will meet them and help them.
To have a conquering faith you must know God’s word and believe God’s word over and above anyone else’s word.
If you want a conquering faith, it begins right here.
2. A Conquering Faith Believes That All Things Are Possible
In ‘faith’s hall of fame’ that is Hebrews 11, we see people whose faith caused them to win through in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
When Abraham had an encounter with God he immediately accepted that there was no limit to what God could do for him and through him.
Genesis 15:5-6 says God 'took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.'
When he finally did get his son, Abraham remained in a position of faith.
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Hebrews 11:17. Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
Conquering faith is when we recognise that no matter what situation we are in there is no limit to what can do for you, for your family, for your finances, for your health.
As Jesus said in Mark 9:23, "Everything is possible for him who believes.”
God can turn you around. He can turn your family around. He can turn you from a slave to a ruler. Stop accepting your problem as normal and inevitable. Start to believe.
God has got options everywhere. He is not boxed in and neither need you be.
3. A Conquering Faith Has The Confidence To Always Look Beyond Negative Circumstances
If you are going to move into conquering faith you have to move out of destructive doubt. Quit looking at your problems. Don’t let the visible stop you seeing the invisible. Stop focussing on what you haven’t got and what’s not happening.
'Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.'
Romans 4:18-21.
Abraham refused to weaken in his faith even though nothing seemed to be happening - indeed when everything seemed to be against him.
A non-Biblical example also shows how important it is to have a determination and confidence in the face of negative circumstances.
You may not know the name, Lord Halifax, but he was the man who might have been Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1940. He saw the power of Hitler and the Nazis and concluded that this country’s only option was ‘the possibility of a negotiated peace.’
Roy Jenkins wrote in his biography Churchill, ‘It would mean Nazi domination in Europe and acceptance by the British that their attempt to check Hitler by war had been a failure.’
His views were repugnant to Winston Churchill, who became Prime Minister instead. Lord Halifax thought that Churchill ‘talked the most frightful rot!…it does drive one to despair when he works himself up into a passion of emotion when he ought to make his brain think and reason.’
Churchill however had no time for such logic that only bred defeatism. Churchill’s defiantly positive speech that ‘we shall never surrender’ inspired the nation. Furthermore he insisted a positive culture be created.
‘In these dark days the Prime Minster would be grateful if all his colleagues in the Government, as well as high officials, would maintain a high morale in their circles; not minimizing the gravity of events, but showing confidence in our ability and inflexible resolve to continue the war till we have broken the will of the enemy…’
As Christians, in ‘these dark days’ or moral and spiritual chaos, we should lead the way in confident living and show others how they can look and live beyond negative circumstances.
“Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36
4. A Conquering Faith Is Willing To Embrace Change And The Challenge Of The Unfamiliar
Faith requires action. Smith Wigglesworth said, 'Faith is an act, and faith without an act is not faith, but doubt and disgrace. Every one of you has more faith than you are using.'
Abraham understood that you have to move out from where you are to get to where God wants you to be. A person of faith is not a settler. He or she is a person who is always moving onward, upward and forward.
No Christian should get stuck in a rut and be risk averse. You must remain ready to move on in your experience of God and in your mission for God.
Abraham was old but he was not retired. He left the security of his father’s house so that he could pursue his destiny as a father of nations.
What is holding you back? Let it go. Leave it. Whether your past has been good, bad or sad, embrace the opportunities and challenges that God is putting before you today to shape your tomorrow. This leads to...
5. A Conquering Faith Will Possess The Future
When you walk by faith, you will unleash unending possibilities for the future.
'By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.' Hebrews 11:11-12
We can see the future and shape the future - whether or not we will be on earth to see God’s plans unfolding for present and future generations.
When I became a pastor I said to my mother it was a pity that my Dad, as founder of the church, was not here to see this day. ‘He did see it,’ she told me. ‘He saw it long before you saw it!’
“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.” Hebrews 11:20-21
If we have seen the future by faith, we have seen what the future holds!
“By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.” Hebrews 11:22. On the night of freedom after 430 years captivity in Egypt they remembered to pick up the bones of Joseph who had long before foreseen this moment!
As a church we have seen by faith that great multitudes of people will come to Christ and that we will touch the world with the gospel.
We see great growth coming. We see great change for good in individuals and families. We see new ministries being raised up. We see that the young people will not be lost to God but sold out for God. We see old people staying fresh and vibrant in their faith, flourishing in their advanced years.
We see women, as well men, stepping into their destiny in God and making a difference shaping their culture and generation.
We see a new level of dedication, and service and sacrifice.
We see darkness all around but a light that shines brighter than the darkness. We see that the seeds of faith and love that we are sowing today will bring great fruit tomorrow all over the world.
By faith we will possess the future - both here and now and in time and eternity.
Today you must get rid of unbelief. “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12.
• Renounce negative thoughts and words.
• Focus on God.
• Fill yourself with His Word. Romans 10:17
• Start to speak positive words of faith. Proverbs 18:21
• Use what faith you already have. Matthew 17:20
When you have learned to use the faith you already have you can do what the apostles did...Luke 17:5
From today determine to live by faith.
Sunday 12th March 2006
‘Without faith it is impossible to please God.’
Hebrews 11:6
Christians are to be the most positive people on earth! In a world of doubt, fear, and negativity, Christians can and should live with confidence and hope.
Without doubt, one of the primary keys of conquest is the key of faith. ‘Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.’ 1 John 5:4
Hebrews 11 catalogues a whole chapter of men and women through the ages who conquered by faith.
The world today is in the mess it is because people do not ‘live by faith.’ Instead they live by:
• The limitations of human logic,
• The unreliability of personal feelings,
• The unpredictability of circumstantial realities or
• The emptiness of religious rules and dogma.
The Bible, however, makes clear that this is not the way to live, even if these are commonly accepted ways of the world.
Faith in God, specifically faith in Christ and through Christ, is the only firm foundation for life.
The Christian life is to be a life of ever increasing faith where, as the apostle Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 5:7, ‘we live by faith, not by sight.’
Paul faced many difficulties in his life-including suffering, shipwreck, beatings and being let down by others but he lived a victorious life because he lived a life of faith. That is God’s plan for every one of us.
1. A Conquering Faith Will Be Totally God Centred
Conquering faith comes when your life is focussed on God and when you believe that:
• He is who He says He is
The basis of faith is that there is a God. ‘In the beginning God…’ Genesis 1:1.
There you go! No explanation: just declaration of a revelation.
He is the Creator God. He is a Holy God. He is a righteous God. He is a powerful God. He is a wonder working God. He is a faithful God. He is a loving God. He is a God who rescues and saves. He is a God of greatness and a God of tenderness who wants all peoples on earth to be blessed.
This is the God who revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and many others and caused them to become conquerors.
• He will do what He says He will do
Hebrews 11:6 ‘…. and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.’
God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. When people get serious in their prayerful pursuit of God, God will meet them and help them.
To have a conquering faith you must know God’s word and believe God’s word over and above anyone else’s word.
If you want a conquering faith, it begins right here.
2. A Conquering Faith Believes That All Things Are Possible
In ‘faith’s hall of fame’ that is Hebrews 11, we see people whose faith caused them to win through in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances.
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days.
Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
When Abraham had an encounter with God he immediately accepted that there was no limit to what God could do for him and through him.
Genesis 15:5-6 says God 'took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.'
When he finally did get his son, Abraham remained in a position of faith.
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." Hebrews 11:17. Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.
Conquering faith is when we recognise that no matter what situation we are in there is no limit to what can do for you, for your family, for your finances, for your health.
As Jesus said in Mark 9:23, "Everything is possible for him who believes.”
God can turn you around. He can turn your family around. He can turn you from a slave to a ruler. Stop accepting your problem as normal and inevitable. Start to believe.
God has got options everywhere. He is not boxed in and neither need you be.
3. A Conquering Faith Has The Confidence To Always Look Beyond Negative Circumstances
If you are going to move into conquering faith you have to move out of destructive doubt. Quit looking at your problems. Don’t let the visible stop you seeing the invisible. Stop focussing on what you haven’t got and what’s not happening.
'Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.'
Romans 4:18-21.
Abraham refused to weaken in his faith even though nothing seemed to be happening - indeed when everything seemed to be against him.
A non-Biblical example also shows how important it is to have a determination and confidence in the face of negative circumstances.
You may not know the name, Lord Halifax, but he was the man who might have been Prime Minister of Great Britain in 1940. He saw the power of Hitler and the Nazis and concluded that this country’s only option was ‘the possibility of a negotiated peace.’
Roy Jenkins wrote in his biography Churchill, ‘It would mean Nazi domination in Europe and acceptance by the British that their attempt to check Hitler by war had been a failure.’
His views were repugnant to Winston Churchill, who became Prime Minister instead. Lord Halifax thought that Churchill ‘talked the most frightful rot!…it does drive one to despair when he works himself up into a passion of emotion when he ought to make his brain think and reason.’
Churchill however had no time for such logic that only bred defeatism. Churchill’s defiantly positive speech that ‘we shall never surrender’ inspired the nation. Furthermore he insisted a positive culture be created.
‘In these dark days the Prime Minster would be grateful if all his colleagues in the Government, as well as high officials, would maintain a high morale in their circles; not minimizing the gravity of events, but showing confidence in our ability and inflexible resolve to continue the war till we have broken the will of the enemy…’
As Christians, in ‘these dark days’ or moral and spiritual chaos, we should lead the way in confident living and show others how they can look and live beyond negative circumstances.
“Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Hebrews 10:35-36
4. A Conquering Faith Is Willing To Embrace Change And The Challenge Of The Unfamiliar
Faith requires action. Smith Wigglesworth said, 'Faith is an act, and faith without an act is not faith, but doubt and disgrace. Every one of you has more faith than you are using.'
Abraham understood that you have to move out from where you are to get to where God wants you to be. A person of faith is not a settler. He or she is a person who is always moving onward, upward and forward.
No Christian should get stuck in a rut and be risk averse. You must remain ready to move on in your experience of God and in your mission for God.
Abraham was old but he was not retired. He left the security of his father’s house so that he could pursue his destiny as a father of nations.
What is holding you back? Let it go. Leave it. Whether your past has been good, bad or sad, embrace the opportunities and challenges that God is putting before you today to shape your tomorrow. This leads to...
5. A Conquering Faith Will Possess The Future
When you walk by faith, you will unleash unending possibilities for the future.
'By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.' Hebrews 11:11-12
We can see the future and shape the future - whether or not we will be on earth to see God’s plans unfolding for present and future generations.
When I became a pastor I said to my mother it was a pity that my Dad, as founder of the church, was not here to see this day. ‘He did see it,’ she told me. ‘He saw it long before you saw it!’
“By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.” Hebrews 11:20-21
If we have seen the future by faith, we have seen what the future holds!
“By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones.” Hebrews 11:22. On the night of freedom after 430 years captivity in Egypt they remembered to pick up the bones of Joseph who had long before foreseen this moment!
As a church we have seen by faith that great multitudes of people will come to Christ and that we will touch the world with the gospel.
We see great growth coming. We see great change for good in individuals and families. We see new ministries being raised up. We see that the young people will not be lost to God but sold out for God. We see old people staying fresh and vibrant in their faith, flourishing in their advanced years.
We see women, as well men, stepping into their destiny in God and making a difference shaping their culture and generation.
We see a new level of dedication, and service and sacrifice.
We see darkness all around but a light that shines brighter than the darkness. We see that the seeds of faith and love that we are sowing today will bring great fruit tomorrow all over the world.
By faith we will possess the future - both here and now and in time and eternity.
Today you must get rid of unbelief. “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” Hebrews 3:12.
• Renounce negative thoughts and words.
• Focus on God.
• Fill yourself with His Word. Romans 10:17
• Start to speak positive words of faith. Proverbs 18:21
• Use what faith you already have. Matthew 17:20
When you have learned to use the faith you already have you can do what the apostles did...Luke 17:5
From today determine to live by faith.
posted by WESLEY at 15:41
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