We as the Church of the Living God are a supernatural people. Mostly, we haven't had a whole lot of teaching about this topic, but nevertheless it is true. We had just read in the book of Romans 10:17 (Amplified) "So faith comes by hearing (by what is told) and what is heard comes by the preaching (of the message that came from the lips) of Christ (the Messiah Himself)." The message that Jesus preached is the same as Paul preached in the Epistles. In 2 Corinthians 12 (Amplified) we this revelation was given to Paul by God Himself. Even though Jesus didn't preach this openly to the people because it wasn't time to reveal the whole of the new birth and the entire plan of redemption. 2Corinthians 2:8 (Amplified) says that "None of the rulers of this age or world perceived and recognized and understood this, for if they had, they would never had crucified the Lord of Glory."
When Jesus was here in His earthly walk as a man, He was talking to the children of Israel (the old covenant people). The new covenant and the new birth wasn't available until after His resurrection. Had He revealed this plan then, satan would never have allowed the crucifixion to occur. It was the very thing that defeated him.
So, the message that "the lips of Christ" spoke, continue throughout the Word of God. Sometimes we miss the idea that what Paul preached came down straight from the lips of God Himself. This message is to a supernatural people by a supernatural Father and is a mystery hidden from the enemy until now.
If Romans 10:17 (Amplified) is true (and you know it is), then until this Word is preached and heard, it's hard to put faith in this portion of God's will for His children. Mostly, we still walk by what we feel because we haven't had enough of the Word to walk by faith. When He said in Romans 10:17 that "faith comes by hearing" Paul didn't mean hearing everything. Faith in God comes by hearing the Word of God. Faith in anything else comes by hearing anything else. Faith in Buddha comes by hearing things preached about Buddha just like faith in Jesus comes by hearing about Jesus.
Evolution has been preached instead of creation and folks who hear it preached enough, have come to put their faith in it instead of the Word. We've come to trust our feelings more than God's Word because we haven't heard the Word preached. When was the last time you heard a teaching about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the speaking of other tongues preached in the church you attend? If it isn't preached, then they don't hear and if they don't hear, then they have no faith in it. If they have no faith in it, then it dies away in the Church.
Back in the 1930's and 1940's the Holy Spirit was preached and such great revivals like the one in Azuza Street in California was occurring. The Holy Spirit was poured upon the people as in the Book of Acts. It's not that the Church doesn't have faith, they do. It's just that we haven't gone from faith to faith. Romans 1:17 (Amplified) says that "for in the Gospel is a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith (disclosed through the way of faith that arouses more faith) as it is written, the man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith."
We hear very little teaching about Jesus bearing our sickness on the cross compared to bearing our sin. We put faith in Him as a sin bearer (and well we should) this one powerful message has gone out through all the world and the people believed and were saved by the millions. Because it's been preached, we heard. Because we heard, we believed...and it worked. As we learn to preach the rest of this message, they'll hear and believe it as well.
We still walk in oppression and depression because we haven't heard much Word about deliverance from those things in our lives. Isaiah 53:5 (Amplified) tells us that "He was wounded for out transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement (needful to obtain peace and well being for us), was upon Him, and with the stripes (that wounded) Him we are healed and made whole."
This is the same gospel that took away our sins and it's been preached and it works. When the whole of the gospel is preached and heard, it will work in the same way.
In Mark 4:23-24 (Amplified) Jesus was preaching about the parable of the sower. He said that the seed He was sowing was the Word of God. In essence, all words are seeds. The Word of God brings faith in God and the words of anything else bring faith in whatever the seed is. You can't hear words of doubt and unbelief and grow faith in God any more than you can plant seeds of corn and get green beans. In Mark 4:24 (Amplified) Jesus said to, "Be careful what you are hearing. The measure (of thought and study) you give (to the truth you hear) will be the measure (of virtue and knowledge) that comes back to you-and more (besides) will be given to you who hear."
Be careful what you are hearing. Are we really careful about what we hear? Do we hear words of doubt and unbelief and allow them to grow? Faith comes by hearing. Do you have faith in some of the messages that you hear about these things are passed away, or that was only for the early church or that's not for today or for everyone. Is your faith more in those messages or more in the words of Christ, the Messiah? Do we walk by faith or by sight? 2 Corinthians 5:7 (Amplified) says "for we walk by faith (we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction of belief respecting man's relationship to God and Diving things, with trust and Holy fervor; (thus we walk) not by sight or appearance."
We can only walk in faith by what we hear and believe. Nothing can produce faith in God unless we hear what His plan is and believe by faith in it. When we only walk by our senses, we can't see the Spirit. When we walk by faith, the Word is Spirit and life.
All of what we believe or don't believe is by what we have heard or not heard. I challenge the pastors and teachers in the Church to begin teaching once again about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the speaking of new tongues, and receiving the gifts of the Spirit. Not as something that's passed away, but as the still and ever present Holy Spirit that awaits the awakening of the Church to the things that He's been sent to do.
Mark 4;24 says to "Heed what you hear." Some things that you hear don't build faith, but rather will destroy it in your life and destroy it in your life. Continue to hear and understand that you are now a supernatural being living in a natural world. You've been given the supernatural Spirit of God Himself to do what needs to be done.
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