Beloved, allow your heart to be persuaded that God is good to you and He loves you, and begin to possess every blessing that is yours through Jesus’ finished work!
What is the one thing
that God wants from us
that will cause Him to
bypass a thousand people
and zero in on you with
favor and delight?
What is that one thing?
Faith.
The Bible says: “Without faith,
it’s impossible to please God.”
Faith always gets
God’s attention. Why?
Because faith justifies God
and makes the devil a liar.
On the other hand,
unbelief justifies Satan
and makes
God appear to be a liar.
Listen carefully, alright?
It’s alright if you are
battling with
unbelief and doubt in your heart.
But expose yourself
to the Word of Christ,
expose yourself
to the Word of God.
Because if you don’t
have faith, faith cometh.
How does faith come?
By hearing and hearing
and hearing.
The idea there is
to keep on hearing.
“Faith comes by hearing and
hearing by the Word of Christ.”
And again, the context there
is hearing through a preacher
because you keep on reading
and it says:
“How shall they hear
without a preacher?”
Now, today we say:
“We can hear God directly.”
You can hear God directly, yes.
But there’s also a danger
that you think
you are hearing God,
but there is always safety.
When a preacher preaches
openly, alright?
His messages can
be openly tested. Amen.
Scrutinized by everyone.
Amen.
Whether it is in line with the
Scripture or not. Amen.
There’s safety there.
And that faith that comes
by hearing is hearing
the Word of God
from the mouth of a preacher.
It’s the preached word
that brings faith.
Hallelujah.
Faith is a rest.
Rest means it is not you
putting in the effort
to produce that work.
It is not you behaving right
then you receive from God.
Amen.
It’s not based on all that anymore.
It is based on the work of another.
Now when you see that,
when you believe right,
you will live right.
It is always that, but it’s not
the other way around.
It is not by living right, then
you end up believing right.
No, no. It’s the other way
around, friend. Amen.
If you believe right, you
will always live right. Amen.
Even if you fall away,
you will never forget
because you have believed right.
What is the right way?
God’s true nature.
Amen.
The prodigal son had some
believing right.
When he was in the pig pen,
he said of his father.
And this is believing right.
The Father is that generous.
The Father is that kind.
And he said: “In my father’s house,
there’s bread enough and to spare.”
“Even all the hired servants,
they eat well.”
And he believed right
about his father.
That’s what motivated him
to turn towards God.
And that’s why it’s so
important for us to
have a good opinion of God,
because faith is also
a good opinion of God.
Amen.
Like Sarah.
“Through faith, Sarah received
strength to conceive seed.”
The word “strength” there
is “dunamis.”
Sarah received strength
to conceive seed.
Why? It says: “Through faith,”
“Sarah received strength,
dunamis, dynamite”
“power to conceive seed
when she was past”
“the age of child bearing.”
Now notice: “Through faith”?
So let’s say.
Faith is a good opinion of God.
Let’s replace the word “faith” there.
And we wouldn’t do injustice
to the Scripture there
because faith is a
good opinion of God.
Through a good opinion of God,
Sarah received strength
to conceive seed.
Holiness is not the reason
for us possessing our promised land.
If Israel had gone
by their holiness,
they would never have
entered the land.
No, it was their unbelief that
kept them from the promised land.
It is very clear.
They didn’t believe God.
They didn’t believe the spies
when they came back and said:
“This land flows with milk
and honey.”
Flows, my friend!
The idea of super abundance
flowing with milk and honey,
they didn’t believe,
it was unbelief.
And the Bible says
very clearly in Hebrews 4.
So we see they could not
enter in because of unbelief
and the word there is
from the Greek word “unpersuaded.”
They are not persuaded,
the opposite of faith. Unbelief.
They didn’t believe.
Their heart is not persuaded
that God is so good.
In fact, they said in
Deuteronomy 1:
“Because the Lord hated us,
He will not bring us into the land.”
“The Lord hated us, He’s going to
deliver us to the enemy.”
They didn’t believe in the
love of God for us
and many believers today,
they’re not possessing the land
because they have
a bad opinion of God.
You know, Sarah received strength
to conceive seed.
And it was because she
had the good opinion of God
that even though she’s
past the age of child bearing.
“Faith comes by hearing and
hearing by the Word of Christ.”
Hallelujah.
She believed the preacher.
Amen.
And you know that the
preacher actually came to their house
one day with two angels
and told Abraham:
“This time next year, Sarah will
conceive and Sarah laughed.”
So unbelief was actually
part of her initial response,
but later on, she trusted God.
She came to a place
of being persuaded,
fully persuaded that God
will do the good things
that He said He will do for her.
Amen.
Thank you Jesus.
I want to share with you a testimony,
talking about Sarah
conceiving seed
in her old age.
Here is a testimony from
a lady that just came in
a sister from our church
and she says:
“My husband and I have had
a desire for a baby for many years.”
“In 2019, I decided to go for
an IVF as I was getting older.”
“However, it was not
successful.”
“In 2020, I tried again and failed
again. I was sad and also lost.”
“It was during an online service
on Sunday, 8 November 2020,”
“Pastor Prince prayed over someone
for a fruitful womb.”
“And I immediately claimed
the blessing for myself.”
“He also mentioned that God will
resurrect the womb,”
“regardless of age. I felt so
encouraged after the prayer.”
“In late 2020, I received the news
that I was pregnant with twins.”
“My baby boys were born
healthy in July this year.”
“God has completed my family
with not one, but two babies.”
“Praise God!”
We have a picture here
of the twins.
Beautiful twins.
Hallelujah.
You see, this lady had faith
that in spite of her age,
yet she believed. She believed in God.
What did she believe about God?
That God wants to give her a
baby, even in spite of her age,
Praise the Lord.
Now how did she believe that?
She believed that because
she kept on hearing the Word
from a preacher.
In this case, it’s me. Amen.
But imagine if the preacher
says this, alright?
“Don’t—Let’s not raise people’s
hopes up and let’s not.”
“When they’re a certain age
and all that, don’t believe,”
“make them believe God.
They’ll be disappointed.”
But the Bible says:
“Faith is the substance of
things hoped for.”
People say things like:
“Don’t raise people’s hopes.”
But the Bible says: “Faith is the
substance of things hoped for.”
If we don’t hope for it.
And hope always has
got to do with the future. Alright?
Faith has got to do with now,
but faith is the
substance of things hoped for.
If you don’t hope for.
And hope, Bible hope is “elpis”,
the Greek word.
It is always a positive
expectation of good in our future.
If we raise people’s hopes,
praise the Lord, we raise it up,
scripturally based on
the Word of God,
they will never be disappointed.
There’s a verse that says:
“This hope that maketh
not ashamed.”
Or “hope that does not disappoint.”
Why? Because the love of God
is shed abroad in our hearts.
We know, and we are assured
that God loves us. Praise God.
So I want you to
keep on believing.
If you’re believing God for a baby.
Amen.
Regardless of your age,
just like this sister here.
In the name of the Lord Jesus,
receive this prayer right now
in the name of the Lord Jesus.
I speak fruitfulness to your womb
and I speak fruitfulness
to your husband
in the name of Jesus.
You shall conceive and
bring forth a child
to the glory of God in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you’ll mark this sermon
because this is the time
you received from the Lord.
this miracle.
Now you are pregnant
with a miracle.
Not yet with a baby
but it shall manifest
in the days to come in Jesus’
name. Amen. Receive that!
Receive that!
I felt inspired and
led by the Spirit
to pray that for you.
Praise the Lord.