Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Pleasing God Pt.4

We're going to continue to take a look at the subject of living in the realm of the supernatural, walking by faith and not by sight, what it really takes to please God. We've seen that it's not anything that we can do for God it's what we do (what?) by Him. We're looking to see Him working in us, the Scripture says, both to will and to do His good pleasure. When we talk about the James factor, "...without faith [the Scripture says] it is impossible to please [God]" (Hebrews 11:6). And then we see that, "Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone" (James 2:17). We talked a little bit last session about what those works were, and it wasn't the works of self righteousness; it wasn't the works that try to appease God, but work that pleases God, work that's initiated in Him by His Word, general revelations, specific revelation that we spent time looking in. Looking to effect really the purpose of God, the establishing of His kingdom here on the earth as we pray, "Not my will but Your will be done." We're looking at how to appropriate that anointing, that presence of God in our lives so that we can walk in a way that is pleasing to Him, so that we can touch the heart of God, touch the resources of God for His own glory not for our gain, but for the glory of God. When we learn that, we're getting ourselves into an environment where God can really work in our midst, that there can be a true humility established in us.

We shared that we're really--As a people, I really believe that God is exhorting us to return to that simplicity of faith, to return to our heritage as the ambassadors of Christ, the sons of God, that we have a right to live in that realm of the supernatural, to appropriate sufficient power to effect the will of God, to destroy the works of the evil one. Amen? It's time for us to set out against the enemy and destroy his works. We've seen that we, as the children of God, are to be on the offense and not on the defense. Wanting to stir that up in our hearts and touch the heart of God, and it's a time when we're going to have a lot of opportunity, whether it's believing God for our daily sustenance as times begin to get worse in this planet--The different diseases that are running rampant in the world today we're going to have to use our faith, the shield of faith, to guard us against what is taking other people down around us, and then stand on the most sure of promises, "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee" (Psalm 91:7). Do you believe that tonight? That's how we have to live. You say, "But people I know, it's hit them." No, it may, but that's God's call. That's the sovereignty of God. We have a promise: "It shall not come nigh us." Amen? We want to begin to rest in the promises and take the offensive, and realize what God has given us, and believe for the best, praise God, and in the interim what do we do? We battle according to His promises when we are afflicted, when those fiery darts are smoldering in our shield of faith. Then, bless God, we just pull them out by faith and say, "Greater is He that's in us than he that's in the world." That's the life that God's called us to and we're going to look at some more of those promises.

Just before we get into the teaching, though, we want to pray. I've been praying today and believing God to touch our brother. We found out that brother, Bill Heglund, has been diagnosed with a very rare form of cancer, and we're just not going to stand and accept that. The odds! This cancer is about 1,500 people a year in the whole world. Here's one of those fiery darts that comes in our midst, and we need to stand up as a people and say, "No we're just not taking that. Praise God!" We're a people that believe that, "By the stripes of Jesus we're healed." We're a people that believe that, "The effectual fervent prayer of righteous men avail much." We believe that, "The prayer of faith saves the sick and the Lord raises them up." Amen? In the interim, of course, there's some of the natural resources that are and there's some tests that are going to be made tomorrow. I believe that we need to pray tonight and see those tests being negative tomorrow. Amen? We believe that as we lay hands on Bill tonight that we're going to see the glory of God. We're going to see the anointing that God will be glorified, and not through natural means. The Lord allowed us to be able to get him into the best. His doctor, when he had shared this with him, gave him some oncologists, and he said, "Well I'm familiar with one man," and he mentioned Roy Beverage's name, and he said, "You can't see him." These guys are the best. I called Doctor Beverage today and he said, "Yeah. For you I'll see anybody." And God opened a door just through relationships that we had. When he had talked about how special Janet was and he said, "You guys are like nobody we've ever had in here before." (We've been told that.) A door that was opened in the natural, but that's not where our hope is. These guys are good, and I believe the reason that God opened the door to the best is so that the best would say, "Yeah it was there and now it's gone." Praise God! And there won't be any question about misdiagnosis or maybe these guys didn't know what they were talking about. When the best say, "It was there and now it's gone," then nobody else from that arena is going to have any place to take the glory of God. That's what we're believing tonight, praise God.

I'm going to ask if the brethren will come, if the pastors will come; and Bill why don't you come let us anoint you, just before we get into the teaching, and allow the Spirit of God to minister His grace to us tonight, and let's see this miracle manifest for God's glory. We're looking for nothing else. We love our brother--he's family, he's our friend, we don't want all of the dealings that go with this--but that's not what it's about, it's not for us to have a convenient life, it's for God to be glorified and that's what we're looking for right now. Praise God! Amen. Let's pray together. Hallelujah! Father, we know nothing else but to come to You, Lord. Our eyes are upon You. It's beyond man, their methods, Father; they've labored, but Your ways, Father, are beyond understanding. Father Your ways are infallible, Your ways cannot be opposed, Your power, Father, is sufficient, and in the name of Jesus of Nazareth we command the cancer to die in this body. Father, we speak wholeness. Father, we ask You, tomorrow as the bone marrow is tapped and tested, there will be no cancer, in the name of Jesus. Wholeness, Father, that the name of Jesus would be upon the lips of these in awe, that You would be all-in-all, Father. We speak that peace, Father, into Bill's body in Jesus' name. Hallelujah! Let's just thank the Lord tonight for what He's done and give Him the glory. Praise God! Glory to you, Jesus. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Father, we thank You and we just rejoice in all of Your goodness. Help us to glorify You, that You would be all-in-all, Father. Hallelujah! Oh beloved, we just can't settle for anything less. It's the promises of God; it's our heritage to live in faith, and to receive the power of God.

Hebrews chapter 11, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is the title deed, it's the proof, and regardless of what any tests may show--we're expecting them to be negative-- but regardless of what any test may show we have a title deed that says we're whole. Amen? It says we are the possessors of healed bodies, praise God, because of the stripes of Jesus. Faith hopes against hope. Faith doesn't accept what the natural mind can comprehend. In the little bit of review we remember seeing in this 11^th chapter of Hebrews, concerning Abraham, that by faith he sojourned in the land of promise, and he looked for a city which had foundations whose builder and maker was God. Abraham was a man that when he was called, the Scripture says, verse eight, he obeyed. When he was called he obeyed. God's looking for people that will obey the call.

"I just want to hear the voice of God." So many people say, "If God would speak..." Now, if we knew our own hearts and would be truthful, we'd say this, "If God would just speak to me I'd really give it some serious consideration, and if it didn't conflict with my schedule, if it really didn't cost me anything or cost me too much, you know, I'd be willing to go." But beloved, the cost is this: "If you're not willing to forsake all and follow me, you're not worthy of me." Amen? The call is to the forsaking of all. Forsaking of our own will, the divesting ourselves of all of our treasures that we might acquire that pearl of great price. How badly do you want to know His presence tonight? There's a price to be paid. There's a calling out of the kingdom of darkness, the arena of the knowledge of good and evil, the treasures of the temporal. What's it going to cost you? It's going to cost you time, and prayer, and fasting. It's going to cost you your natural reputation as you go out and begin to identify yourself with the crucified one, that Name in all of the world that's hated like no other name.

There's not another name on this planet that's hated like the name of Jesus. Now, I've been doing my best to get up there but it's only because I hang out with Him. I joy in the fact that I'm hated for His name's sake. People that have slandered my name, I rejoice when it's being spoken ill of because of my association with Him. Now, I've given people a few occasions to think ill of me because of my own orneriness and my own flesh, and I don't rejoice in that. I repent. But I can say that most of the people hate me hate me for one reason: It's because of who I hang with, because of my defense of His name, His doctrine, His Word as truth, and everything else as a lie. Are you ready to pay that kind of a price? Because if we're going to walk by faith we're going to be called into that association with His name, and are you ready to obey? That's what the whole issue is about.

Abraham when he was called, the Scripture says, he went out, he forsook, but, as we saw in review the other night, he didn't quite forsake all of it. Beloved, let's learn from that tonight. What are you holding on to? We're wanting to obey, we're wanting to walk by faith, but what are you holding on to? We know that what he held on to was a relationship, just someone that maybe would remind him of home, somebody that he could relate to in the natural. So many of us, when we begin to walk into the realm of faith, we still want those natural relationships, somebody that will understand my natural man. That natural man needs to die. Amen? We still want those natural relationships because we're familiar with them, they're familiar with us, we feel comfortable. You need to come out of your comfort zone and begin to be followers of those who though faith and patience inherit the promises of God. Get out of your comfort zone and begin to move into that realm of the supernatural.

Abraham was beginning to experience that type of a walk and that very thing that he held on to, that he thought would bring comfort to him, the thing that he thought he would be able to trust in, the friend that he could rely in--we all know the story don't we. There actually began to a schism and conflict. As you read the Scriptures--and we may look at this specifically as we go on in the study--the one thing that I think is unique is this: When God spoke to Abraham, and He said, "Come out I want you to forsake everything and follow me," and he brought Lot with him, He never spoke to Abraham again specifically concerning the mission until Lot was removed to him. He took the plains of Sodom, he went down and enjoyed the fertile valley, he separated himself and as soon as Lot went out from him God spoke to him again.

Have you shut off the voice of God by holding on to the familiar? Are we missing the supernatural by remaining in our comfort zone and hearing those natural counselors and the natural wisdom, and taking our solace in what's discernable? And not, as the Scripture says, moving into that land of promise, the sojourning, "The strange country," the Scripture calls it, "The strange country of faith." Nothing familiar, it's always something new. We're following the invisible, as the Scripture speaks concerning Moses, who, verse 25, "Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; [He who, the Scripture says,] esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt... [That's what I was just talking about earlier: Esteeming the reproach of Christ, being identified with Jesus, is greater than all of the natural success that the world might have. Moses, the Scripture says,] By faith he forsook Egypt, [verse 27] not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, [Oh, I love this passage!] as seeing him who is invisible. There's only one thing that's going to keep you on course, beloved, in this walk and it's being able to have spiritual eyes to see what nobody else can see.

The prophet said, "Lord open his eyes that he could see." All he could see in the natural at that time were the natural enemies, thousands and hundreds of thousands of the enemy. And the prophet of God, who saw with different eyes, said, "Lord open his eyes." He said, "There's more for us than there are for them." The young man said, "I'd like to believe that." And as he began to survey in the natural: "Five thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand." And even those of us that were in remedial math knew that this guy was using the new math. "One, two." [Counts self, prophet.] "Ten thousand, fifty thousand, one hundred thousand." [Counts the enemy.] "More for us than there are for them."

You know, you want to start distancing yourself from people like that in the natural. There are phrases for people like this, "His elevator doesn't go all the way to the top, because he's only got one oar in the water, and his bread's half done, and he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer." But God's strength is made perfect in weakness! Amen? What the world calls "foolishness" God calls "faith."

We need to see from a different perspective and follow Him who is invisible. Praise God! "Invisible" just means to the natural. You can see Him in faith. I can see God in the eye of faith. I know what He's like. I know how He does things, and when I'm walking in the Spirit I'm more comfortable in the unseen, in the unknown, in the sufficiency of the day, taking no thought for the morrow, than I am in the tangible, quantified, expectable realm of existence. Nobody can take anything from you when you're living in that realm, because you possess nothing but you have all things.

God's calling you and I to walk as Abraham walked and to look for a city, a kingdom whose builder and maker is God. Unless the Lord builds the house we're laboring in vain. What are you working on tonight? Well, you'll know by what kind of tools you're using, what kind of weapons you're using to defend. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal they're mighty through God (amen?) to the pulling down of strongholds. What is your defense tonight? Some trust in horses and some in chariots, but our trust is in the Lord our God. How much time have we taken for the adorning of our spirit man with the full armor of God? How readily available are we to have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace? Is that the zeal that's eating you up tonight? Does the opportunity to share the gospel and to go with this gospel into the all the world create in you an excitement like nothing else? As I was in prayer this morning that was just one of the things that I just felt coming up in my spirit, and as I was just praying I heard myself praying that way just, "Father give us more opportunities to share the gospel. Father cause there to be an excitement a desire, a looking for the opportunities to share with somebody this unspeakable gift of eternal life that frankly so many of us have taken for granted, and it's just common." It's the pearl. It's the treasure. It's what everybody else is seeking and we have it. Gotta tell somebody. Amen? "Got to tell somebody." You remember that old song? "...as it began to burn. I gotta tell somebody that Jesus has been raised from the dead."

Here we are, called to walk in the realm of the supernatural, pleasing God. What pleases God? Well, without faith it's impossible to please Him. What are we doing to adorn ourselves? Do you have on the breastplate of righteousness? Are your loins girded with truth? Do we have the helmet of salvation in place and carry the shield of faith and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God? How fashion conscious are you? Because in the spirit realm if you're not dressed like that, you ain't cool. Who are you trying to look like? How much time do you take to prepare yourself and present yourself before the spirit world? We get up and we brush our teeth (hopefully) and comb our hair. We've got to look just right, and we've got to have just the right stuff on, and the cool stuff. Have you noticed that the real cool thing today is they're selling new dirty Levis. You go down there and they're pre-dirt. It used to take me months to get my Levis looking like that, and now you can buy them cool, just dirty looking, grungy, or whatever the fad is. You go to all the trouble--the fad. I love the one where these guys have to go around holding their pants up. People walking around holding their pants up! You don't want to wave at them. Fashion conscience...to what world? Trying to make the point. We'll go shop for hours to find the right thing. Do you pray for hours to make sure that you have on the breastplate of righteousness, your loins gird with truth? You see, the topic is "Pleasing God." Without faith it's impossible to please Him. You've to prepare to come into the presence of God. You've got to prepare to walk victoriously in this kingdom of light.

The Scripture goes on and tells us very clearly, as it pertains to the life of Abraham here. Go back to Romans four, and we're spending a little too much time in review. If we're going to be a people that are pleasing God, it's not going to be just a holiness--and we've taught a lot on holiness--it's not going to be just a holiness that separates ourselves from the world, but it's going to be a holiness that as we are sanctified and set apart for God, it will be for the purpose of bringing glory to Him, which doesn't cause us to leave the world but causes us to infiltrate the world through a separate kingdom, the kingdom of light, the kingdom of God, this parallel kingdom that we've taught on so many times. As the Scripture says, "We are in the world but we are not (what?) of it." So, when we talk about holiness we're not talking about a monastic perspective. Many of us want to just totally get away, and if we can get away from the world then, "I'll be able to live a holy life for God." No you won't, because the sin is in your members. It's not enough just to come out from among them. The Scripture says, "Come out from among them and be (what?) separate." The word separate is the key there. It's not just a coming out, it's, "a separating," or "a uniqueness, a holiness;" the coming out is not physically, but it has to do with relational. We're in it, but we're not of it. Abraham was learning to walk that as he was looking for this city as he was sojourning in a country. You've got to see it that way. We are sojourning in a country. We are not citizens here. Our citizenship is the kingdom of God. Our natural affiliations are very limited.

Now, you know people would accuse us as being unpatriotic. I actually, as it would pertain to my citizenship my natural citizenship, I see myself as a patriot. Not in the strictest sense of the word because my total allegiance is not here, but I have an allegiance to the land, to our government, to our way of life. I'm thankful for it. I think it's the best one going. We contribute to the ongoing of this, but this isn't home. We're strangers here. They apply principles for the glory of man and we do everything for the glory of God. They think that man is good and we know that man is totally depraved. They seek equality; we know God mandates diversity. They want an equality of the sexes, men and women; God says that's not true--the head of the woman is (what?) the man. Drives the world nuts. Tomorrow we're going to have the big equality in golf. Some of you aren't aware of this: A woman named Sorenson is going to play in a PGA tournament, the man's tournament, because they want equality. Okay. I guess equality means the fact that when she tees off, USA Today is going to televise it from the time she tees off until the time they finish, and then they'll go off the air, and then come on at their regular time. What's so equal about that? How come it's not for Joe Blow? See, we don't understand equality. I want to know why equality is: She gets to play in the men's tournament but the men can't play in the women's tournament. What's equal about that? The world says we're stupid; it's the natural world that's stupid. There's nothing equal about that. "Men and women--we're all equal." We are not all equal.

We as Christians know that, but some of these people haven't figured it out yet. Those of us that live in this other kingdom, that walk by faith and not by sight, that oppose all that they stand for, we're mocked and ridiculed, but the question I want to ask you tonight is: Which kingdom are you most comfortable in? When we talk about forsaking all, talking about family and jobs and everything else, do you start getting a little antsy? What happens when you think about that? Just ask yourself that question right now, try to put yourself in that place, and it's very difficult to do; put yourself there and say, "I've made a commitment to that, and the Lord knows that in my heart I've committed to that; O Lord, don't ever really require it." Is that what you think or is it, "I've committed to that, I know my frame is but dust, His grace is sufficient. Praise God! I know what He's asked, I know my inability to meet it, but I know His sufficiency in me. Praise God!" Because the fact of the matter is this: One day you're going to get to give it all up, one way or another. Everybody gets to go there. Everybody has a trip to Gethsemane, and if you haven't been there yet God is preparing you, and the good news tonight is, beloved, His grace is sufficient. Amen? Those of you that have been there say, "Amen." Those of you that have been there, doesn't mean you're not going back.

Here we are, a people walking by faith and not by sight. A people, who, the Scripture says in Romans four, have been called to hope against hope, "Who against hope [the Scripture says, verse 18] believed in hope." That belief we saw was in obedience, they obeyed. Let me show you what I'm talking about in obedience. You can make some kind of provision there to come back, but turn over to Luke's gospel for a just a second, and let me show you how faith works, how this thing really begins to manifest itself. Where James says, "Faith without works is dead being alone." The works that he spoke of there in James was a works of letting yourself be a conduit for the sufficiency of God, how can we say--Well, turn over to James for just a second while you're finding Luke five. James, chapter two, take a look at it, verse 14, "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? Then he comes back and gives us a good illustration If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, [verse 20] that faith without works is dead?" I'm going to get back to Abraham offering Isaac at another point but I just want you to just get that part of it. Faith without works is dead.

Hebrews 11 said when called, he obeyed. Now, many of us here have purposed in our hearts to obey but we haven't been called yet, we've just purposed. "If God calls me I'm going, praise God." The works of obedience are going to be required of you somewhere here in the near future, and it's going to happen something like this, Luke five. Verse 12, "And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him..." "If thou wilt you can make me whole, you can make me clean." You're going to be put into a place where the promises of God are going to still be questioned because of life's experience, you've prayed before, nothing seemed to happen. And you begin to question, "Is this really the will of God?" If You will. Beloved, I want to encourage you with the fact that He will. Amen? We see as we go on to the next example here in this chapter how faith really works. Now, this man was blessed and he came and the grace of God was sufficient. He said, "If you will," and God said, "I will."

But then we see this example, and here's what we were trying to get you to tonight, and we're going to end with this verse 17. "And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: [and then look at verse 17, this phrase that's so powerful. We've taught on this so many times in the past I want you to refresh yourselves in it look at this.] and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. [Did you know that His power is always present? People talk about, "We prayed the power down." The power is always present. The purpose of God to heal is always evident. "If you will, you can heal me." He said, "I will." He taught there in their midst among all these Pharisees. These are unbelievers. These are people that mocked this new kingdom that was being established, and yet the power was present to heal, and not one person in that place was being healed. They were just listening to the doctrine. They could quote all the promises, not one person healed. You can teach on healing and they would all say, "Amen, praise God, preach it!" and nobody got healed. Then verse 18,] And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus." What does real faith do? It never takes, "No," for an answer. Natural circumstances never dictate your next action.

There were so many reasons why she should not have been there, so many reasons why she had no access available to the Master. First of all, you remember the story; she had an issue of blood. That, in the Scriptures, a woman that was issuing blood was as unclean as a leper. We know all of the Levitical ordinances that had to do with the cleansing ceremonies of one with this type of an issue of blood. Knowing the fact that she was defiling those that she was coming in contact with, they would have stopped her in a heartbeat. She's pressing her way through there. She was risking her very life to touch Jesus. Do you want to know why? Because she saw He who was unseen. Because she was seeking a city, and burning down in her heart was that Rhema that said, "If I can touch Him I'll be made whole, praise God. If I can touch the hem of His garment I'll be healed." Are you holding on to a word like that tonight? When's the last time God spoke a word that burned in your heart like that? "If I can touch Him I know I'll be made whole." Now, we know, and I've taught in the past,. but this will help some of you young people some of you teenagers have maybe never heard this. "If I can touch the hem of His garment I'll be healed." What made her say that? Did she just make that up? If, when Jesus walks by and if he looks over and winks at me, that will be a sign that I'll be healed. What was it that was motivating this woman to say that? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Malachi says, "When the Son of righteousness arises He shall come with healing in His wings." That Hebrew word "wings" means "the border or hem of a garment." She studied the Word of God. She had the revelation of the Word of God come into her heart that said, "This is the Son of Righteousness. I recognize Him as the Son of Righteousness. If He is in fact the Messiah, the sent one, there's healing in that garment. If I can touch that garment I'll be made whole, praise God." Oh beloved, I would to God that we could catch that tonight. Those of us that are looking back with two thousand years of history on the name of Jesus, the doctrine of divine healing, the promises of God, and we can press in tonight, and touch Him tonight and be made whole, praise God! That promise is real to you tonight. Isaiah 53 is real to you tonight, that "By His stripes we are healed," that "it pleased God to bruise Him for our sake." "If I can touch Him I'll be made whole." So she began to press through that crowd and pull people out of the way. She was consumed with the promise of God.

How bad do you want to get into the house? See, they couldn't get into the house because it was jammed with people that were only interested in doctrine. The people that had tickets to listen to the doctrinal teaching, I'm sure they went home; it was crowded. When you come to hear a lecture and the place is filled, and it's standing room only, you may go home. But when you've come to touch the Master you're going to find a way in to His presence. The woman said, "If I can touch Him I'll be made whole." As she pulled her way through that crowd and reached out and touched the hem of his garment the Scripture says Jesus stopped. Do you want to stop God? Then touch Him in faith. Touch Him in obedience. Touch Him in humility. Touch Him with expectancy. But you're going to have to get out of the boat, you're going to have to get out of your comfort zone and touch God. You're going to have to move against all that's traditional and all that's logical, and touch God. Tradition said she couldn't be there but she chose to suffer reproach rather than the traditions of men, which make the Word of God of no affect. Jesus stopped and He said, "Who touched me?" His disciples said, "What do you mean who touched you? The crowds, the throngs, they're all over you." He said, "Somebody's touched me in faith. Virtue has gone out of me. [I like that.] Power has manifested from my presence. Divine sufficiency has issued forth. Who touched me?" The woman was afraid, the Scripture says, but she acknowledged it, and her faith made her whole, praise God.

Will you touch Him until the sufficiency has manifested itself in your life? Can you touch God until the power has manifested? When they could not find their way in, verse 19, "And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, [And the Scripture tells us over in Matthew that they ripped the tiles off the house. Don't you like that scene? Place is crowded, packed out here and all of a sudden you can hear the commotion going on up on top, and all of a sudden the roof comes off the place. Here's this guy being lowered down. You know people had something to say about that. The guy that owned the house had something to say about it, I'm sure. I bet some people were ticked off because straw was falling in their hair, and dust. Some were ticked off because they ruined the good teaching that was going on. But the fact of the matter is, the Scripture tells us, how it affected the heart of God.

"And when he [verse 20] saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know [Beloved, that's why we're believing for Bill's healing tonight, that's why we're believing for the miracle in your life tonight.] But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say [be healed of that cancer. Be healed of that heart disease. Be healed of that arthritis.] rise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house." Beloved until we have a jealousy to see the glory of God manifested toward us that men would know that our sins have been forgiven, that we're citizens of a new kingdom, that we're a follower of the invisible God, then we're just another religion in their eyes.

Tonight, Father, we ask You for the grace to believe You. Father, we come to You tonight and we ask You to stir our hearts that whatever is necessary to break through tradition, the comfort zones, to find our way into Your presence, to not fear men's faces, to be willing to be ridiculed, we ask You for the grace, the sufficiency, to accomplish that, that men would know that You've been sent of Father. The sufficiency of faith. The only life that can please You: The coming out and being separate. The reproaches of Christ which are the greater riches. The comfort in the not knowing, because we count You faithful who promised, who will do it. A faith that works, not working for faith. The rest, because faithful is He. Cause that to be our comfort, Father, in Jesus name, amen.

Let's stand before the Lord tonight. As Gary plays for us we'll take a moment and ask ourselves the question, "Is my life pleasing God?" Without faith it's impossible. When's the last time you refused to be kept from His presence. You see, for you and I it's probably not a crowd of people around this building that we can't get in here, it's probably a crowd down at the theater that you're having to deal with. It's the crowd of traffic on the Internet as you're trying to check out your portfolio. It's the crowds on the beltway. It's the crowds on the golf course, the soccer field, the shopping mall. When's the last time you pleased God by denying the opposition of the throngs, and pressing into His presence, the great cost of touching His garment? He's there, desiring to heal, and nobody was healed because nobody paid the price. Don't say you have faith if you're not willing to work. In Abraham's life it was an obeying. The works were the obedience. Is your life pleasing to God tonight? Are you living by faith and not by sight? Are you leaving your comfort zone to be comfortable in the unseen, the unknown? Are you comfortable owning nothing but possessing all things?

Let's sing it together and make it your hearts' prayer. Hallelujah! As I got that call today, too many familiar names and places came to my mind. My mind went back to all of the natural circumstances all of the details that make up the scenario. I thought, "Lord, here's a people." I got a call from one of their chief--it's a woman, actually she's between the nurses and the doctors, (she can write prescriptions and stuff) I don't know what her actual position is. She called me after Janet went home she said, "I've seen a lot of things go on here." She said, "You know..." And I read the statistics. She said, "You know, women that are involved in what your wife has been through in these ordeals, it's 75 to 85 percent of all men that divorce their wives and leave them under these circumstances, and 10 percent of women leave the men." She said, "I just wanted to call and tell you when I heard that Janet was gone that your lives affected me. I've never seen anybody care for their wife like that. I've never seen a relationship like that," and she said, "It affected my life."

As I got that call today about Bill, my mind went back to that statement, and I could see it being, "Our God shall deliver us, and even if He doesn't we won't bow down and serve yours." They saw us never serve their gods, and neither did our God deliver us, and I want to see our God deliver us. I want the testimony of the power to forgive sins made very clear by the miraculous. As we press toward that and believe God, He will show Himself mighty in our midst. In His sovereignty, should He choose another way, His grace is sufficient and His name will be praised, but we should expect nothing less. Before you go tonight, turn to somebody next to you and say, "Our faith is the victory." Amen. Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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