The power of faith does more than move mountains. It opens up the eyes of Christians to the spiritual realm and allows them to see the work of God through angels and the work of Satan through demons.
without him you cannot
but without you he will not
when we travel across a bridge it
typically means
that two bodies of land have been
separated
by a challenge this bridge
is designed to take you from where you
are
to where you are trying to go the bridge
that god has constructed
for you to move from the natural to the
supernatural
is the bridge called faith unbelief will
keep you stuck where you are
unbelief is so powerful it’ll stop
god’s work in your life he says
i believe help my uncle
he said i believe but i’m shaking will
you
give me what i lack so i can go deep
enough to believe
so even if your faith is weak you’ve got
a faith helper
so get ready for your miracle
as long as you cross the bridge
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our series is believing is seeing
experiencing the supernatural
it is our intended purpose
for you to begin to experience in your
life
in your world
the supernatural interruption of god
to move you
from the natural to the supernatural
experience of his reality
in your life as a common occurrence
and not merely as an occasional
thing that may happen or may not happen
in your lifetime
again i want to distinguish the
difference between
supernatural and natural natural means
that it’s operating according to the
laws of nature
the laws are already known science
studies them
we operate on them the law of gravity
what goes up must come down
these are the rules by which the world
works
and they’re natural men can discover
them
and use them for living
but when we speak about the supernatural
we’re speaking about when god overrides
his own laws
when god steps in to
a law a circumstance a situation
and brings to it or upon it something
that comes from
outside of it our twin word that we
would call those things are miracles
things that god does that are outside of
the laws that he himself has established
i would like to suggest to you that
the supernatural is not as far from you
as you may think
but it is predicated on faith
now we’ve explained faith acting like
god is telling the truth
acting like it is so even when it’s not
so in order that it might be so
simply because god said so
and in our story today
we find this principle of believing is
seeing
being brought to light again jesus is on
his way to galilee
and he
comes across philip and he tells philip
phillip follow me philip says okay
philip has a homeboy named nathaniel
nathaniel is there and philip says
nate we have found him
the one who the whole old testament
prophesied about
jesus of nazareth we found him
the whole bible we’ve been studying all
these years about the coming messiah
nate we have discovered him he’s here
nathanael we’ll call him nate for sure
nate says um can any good thing come out
of nazareth
you you’re telling me messiah
has come out of nazareth we talking
about the son of joseph
the cop of this kid you’re saying that’s
the messiah
can any good thing come out of that
jesus sees him coming and says
behold an israelite indeed in whom there
is no deceit
in other words nathaniel i heard what
you just said about me
can any good thing come out of nazareth
nathanael said to him
how do you know me i’ve never met you
we’ve never talked before
we’ve never interact it’s my first time
how do you know how do you know my
background how do you know what i was
talking about that you could claim that
i was being honest about it
how do you know me
jesus continues before philip called you
when you were under the fig tree i saw
you
so that leads nathanael to conclude
in verse 49 rabbi
you are the son of god you are the king
of israel
strictly based on what jesus said
that he saw which he couldn’t have known
without
having some supernatural insight
and knowledge because he wasn’t there
when he was under fig tree
he wasn’t there when philip asked him to
come and see
and yet he knew all this information he
said to him
uh you’ve got to be the son of god
what he does here stay with me is affirm
jesus’s deity son of god in other words
you have the uh characteristics of
divinity
you have the nature of god you are the
son
of god he declares his deity he
expresses to jesus i believe you are not
only
the son of god your messiah that is you
are the king
of israel he confesses it
so say with me we have now
nathaniel moving from a big
question mark can anything good come out
of nazareth
and in lickety-split he now is
confessing
you are not just an ordinary man
you are god incarnate you are the son of
god
so his his doubt has now become
enough faith to make a public confession
about who jesus is so he’s moved
in a manner of minutes spiritually
because of what he heard jesus say
now watch what happens next jesus says
to him
because i said to you i saw you under
the fig tree
i just talked to you you heard my word
and i said it to you do you believe
question mark you will see
greater things than these
he’s doubting one minute he’s confessing
christ the next minute
and he says if you keep this belief
thing going
you ain’t seen nothing yet you will see
greater things than these
many of you come every sunday and you
hear a message
you may agree with the message you may
amend the message
and jesus said to nathanael and i say to
you he wants to do more than give you
another sermon
he wants to do more than give you
another message he wants to do more
in fact he wants to give you something
you can see
once god gives you something you can see
with your own two eyes once he
once he lets you see something something
because you’ve operated in faith
now his reality his power
his presence is a whole new ball game
for you
cause now you’re not depending on a
sermon you just became one
so he says i i got some stuff
nate that will blow your mind if i can
get your faith
to keep moving do you believe question
mark
you you you have grown in your faith but
i have a lot more
and then he comes in verse 51
and he said to him truly truly
i say to you
you will see the heavens opened
and the angels of god ascending and
descending
on the son of man
i’m going to show you some greater stuff
now before i go any further i want to
drop a
exegetical note in here because you need
to know that the word you
that he’s going to show him this heaven
and opening up
is plural so he moves from
in the greek texas plural so you can be
singular or you can refer to a group
plural well it’s plural
so he’s carrying on a conversation with
an individual but he jumps from
nathanael and talks to the group
and guess what you and i are in the
group
so this is not just what he’s getting
ready to tell nathanael isn’t just for
nathaniel
he says it’s for the rest of y’all too
you’re going to see heaven open up which
means it was closed
and you’re going to see angels going up
and down
from heaven to earth on the son of man
this brings us into the doctrine of
angels
angels are god’s delivering service
they’re the male men
the male persons of god their spirit
beings
and their job is to deliver whatever god
wants me to be delivered
from heaven to history now
hebrews chapter 1 14 says
that every believer has been assigned
their own angel
hebrews 1 14 says that so if you are a
christian
you have an angel at least one
that has been assigned to you
what’s the job of an angel to be your
spiritual mailman
male person because their job is to
deliver
when heaven opens up something heaven
wants to do
down in history that history can see
because you’re going to see it
so you have a male person whose job it
is
to respond to you on earth from
heaven but you only get to see that
when heaven opens
so if heaven is closed it’s like a
holiday you don’t get the mail
heaven has to be open for you to see
what your angel is supposed to deliver
to you and take from you back up to
heaven
because they’re descending and ascending
they’re going down and up
oh wait a minute he just shifted
language
nathanael said you are the son of god he
said because you recognize i’m the son
of god
if you take that belief and move with it
you’re going to see the angels come on
the son of man
son of god is jesus’s deity son of man
is jesus’s humanity
we call it the hypostatic union two
natures
in one person unmixed forever he’s god
and man he’s god so he creates
he’s man so he was born he’s god
because he can feed five thousand he’s
man
because he can get hungry he’s man
because he can walk on water
man because he’d get thirsty he’s god
because he can walk on water
he’s man he can die he’s god he can
raise the dead
so you got son of man son of god in one
person
he says because you recognize i’m son of
god
you’re gonna watch me be son of man
because you recognize i’m from up there
you’re gonna be seeing me do some stuff
down here where human beings live
and the angels will be going up and down
the ladder of the son of man
now he just told
nathanael what he was thinking you see
he’s under the fig tree he’s a man with
no deceit
and he’s going to see angels going up
and down
well that comes straight out of genesis
chapter 28
when jacob was running from his brother
esau terrified he was going to get
killed by his brother
he finally comes to a place where he’s
too tired to go any further
he lays down puts his head on the rock
and the bible says
jacob had a dream and jacob had a dream
and he saw a ladder going from earth to
heaven and heaven to earth and he saw
angels going
up and down the ladder and when he saw
the angels going up and down the ladder
god said to him i’m going to be with you
i’m going to take care of you i’m going
to provide for you
i’m going to fulfill my covenant with
you and even though your life is
messed up right now heaven has got an
answer for the mess
you have put yourself in
so nathaniel you under the fig tree
jacob is called the man full of guile
you’re a man of no guile the seat means
guile
that’s cause you’re up there meditating
on how am i gonna get connected to
heaven
you’re gonna get connected to heaven the
same way the one you were thinking about
got connected to heaven on a ladder
but it won’t be a ladder with rungs in
it it’ll be a son of man ladder
in other words jesus christ is your link
to experiencing the supernatural from
heaven to earth
or as the scripture says we have one
mediator
between god and man and that is the man
christ
jesus so it is your operating
faith in christ not your intellectual
faith not your emotional faith
it will be as you’ll see in a second
you’re operating faith in christ
where you get to see heaven move
okay so we have a question on the floor
when am i going to see this where am i
going to see this man come on jesus
okay well first of all it’s contingent
upon
your belief and your willingness to
confess
okay you must believe enough to act on
what he says
and to confess identification with him
he confesses jesus to be the son of god
so let me tell you now how to keep
heaven closed
be embarrassed to be identified with
christ
okay heaven will shut up on you
because god is glorifying his son so if
you’re a secret agent christian
spiritual cia representative and covert
operative
uh don’t expect heaven to open heaven
will stay
totally closed if you’re embarrassed
about being a christian
i’m not talking about believing in god
no i’m talking about identification
with jesus christ the bible says in
matthew chapter 10
if you deny me before men i will deny
you before my father who is in heaven
so you asking for this miracle but you
deny
association with me i will deny you
before my father
heaven will stay closed and angels will
not
come down the ladder they will be on
holiday
so there must be the identification and
confession of christ
for you to see it with
operating faith because he’s already
expressed faith but jesus raised the
question now do you believe
do you believe enough to operate and
follow me
now three days later
so this story is continuing
there was a wedding in cana of galilee
and the mother of jesus was there
and both jesus and his disciples were
invited to the wedding
so when he went to the wedding when the
wine
ran out verse 3 the mother of jesus says
there they have no
wine we don’t have enough juice
wine has run out
in other words jesus what you’re going
to do about it you were invited to the
wedding
wink wink i know who you are jesus said
to her
woman what does that have to do
with us my hour has not yet come you
want me to
solve your problem apart from my purpose
and woman you’re my mother i love you
but
but i don’t operate apart from the will
of god
so watch this when god does the
supernatural
he does it in accordance to his will
based on his timeline
my hour that’s time has not yet come
so when you are expecting because you’re
operating in faith and confessing him if
you’re not doing those things
two things you can’t expect the
supernatural but if you’re doing those
two things
you have to understand he operates
according to his will and
based on his timeline it’s got to agree
with his hour
and his by got to be consistent with his
purposes okay
my hour has not come
so mother backs off
mother says to the servants whatever he
says
to you do it
now when she backs off
and gives jesus the freedom to do it his
way and not
demand that he does it her way
jesus says it says in verse 6
there were six stone water pots each one
could hold
30 uh 20 to 30 gallons each and he said
to them fill the water parts with water
so they are filled up to the brim
now before you get to that verse
it sounded like jesus was going to do
nothing because he says
woman why are you asking me to do that
my hour has not yet not yet come
so it sounds like he’s telling her
forget it
i ain’t trying to do do that when she
backs off
and he says to her he says to the folks
okay now here’s what i want you to do
and i’ll tell you why in a moment
as we close he says i want you to fill
these water pots up with water
so the servants went and they fill these
gallons
uh 20 to 30 gallon pots six of them
they fill it up with water when they
fill it up with water
he said to them draw some out now and
take it to the head waiter
so they took it to him when the
headwaiter tasted the water
which had become wine watch this damn
and did not know where it came from
but the servants who had joined the
water knew the headwaiter called the
bride’s groom and said him
every man serves the good wine first and
when the people are drunk freely
then he serves the poor wine but you
have kept the good wine
until now this beginning of jus
the signs jesus did in cain of galilee
manifested his glory
and the disciples believed in him whoa
let me tell you about something when god
does a supernatural thing whatever that
is because you confess
and you operate in faith
even though things may look empty right
now
the parts were empty even though it
looks like
there’s nothing there even though
it looks like there’s no hope
even though it’s empty whatever he says
to you
even in your emptiness do
i don’t feel like it i’m tired i’m worn
out
i’m depleted i’m empty in in spite of
the emptiness
in the bible wine was a symbol of joy
whenever whenever wine is used it was a
joyful occasions typically
he says fill it up to the brim because
even though it’s empty when i get
finished doing my thing
oh they’re gonna be all the joy you can
handle up in here
even though it’s empty not only that but
he goes on to say
he saved the best for last
it may not be the best right now but you
haven’t come to the last
because sometimes god waits till the
last second
to pull off what he wants to do
sometimes he waits
till there’s no other option to pull off
what he wants to do
sometimes he waits till you don’t think
you can make it any further
to pull off what he wants to do why
would you take your time
when my pot is empty jesus it says
because his disciples believed in him
but wait a minute
they had already believed in him how do
you say they’re believing in me now
when they’ve already believed in me
before well when you see the
supernatural
injuring to the natural that’s a whole
other level of belief
you may believe in him in church but
when he breaks through for you
oh that’s another level of belief you’re
going to believe like you never
believed before your confidence will be
great
because you will see his glory now you
know why
he did not tell he he did not let his
mother’s request
go through upfront he did not let his
mother’s request
go through upfront because this miracle
wasn’t for the crowd
it was for the disciples he wasn’t ready
it says the bridegroom didn’t know how
it happened
the headmaster didn’t know how it
happened because god wasn’t trying to do
it for everybody else
he was trying to do it for his followers
now
why was he trying to do it for his
followers
because when his followers got the
message
about the glory of jesus christ he would
have no problem
having representatives out there in the
public
because now his reps are going to tell
what jesus
was able to do one of the reasons
god can’t get his church folk to be his
representative
is they have not yet seen his glory but
if you ever see his glory
you won’t be able to keep your mouth
shut if you ever see his glory
you won’t be able to keep it to yourself
if you’ve ever seen his glory
you won’t be able to hold it in because
you will have seen
what god can do when he breaks through
supernaturally
and turns your water in the wine
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history was never
installed to operate separate from
eternity
earth was never created to operate
independently of heaven
time was never made
to be distinct from eternity
you see the way god created
our life and our world was to be
dynamically
and directly connected to him
the moment that cord is cut
and earth seeks to run on its own
independently of god
then it’s going to fly off the handle in
every aspect of our lives
and we’ll fly off the handle with it god
wants to be
dynamically involved if your life
is going to be ordered if it’s going to
make sense
if our world is going to operate like it
was created to operate
but the further we push eternity away
the further we keep heaven from invading
earth the further we
negate the lord’s prayer thy kingdom
come thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven the moment
we begin to function with that mindset
no matter what our words are then
don’t expect anything other than
chaos confusion discombobulation
we’ve got to reconnect we got to go back
to the
outlet and plug earth back into heaven
our lives back into god and his word
so that we can see what the electricity
looks like
when it flows from up there down here
empowering us to be what we were created
to be down here
because we’re pulling from the life up
there
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you