Are we appropriating this supernatural faith in our lives?

Look at the faith of Paul and Silas as they sit in a dark dungeon, their hands and feet in bonds, blood pouring down their backs. As they release their faith and sing praises unto God, the entire prison is shaken by the power of God. Immedi­ately the doors are opened, their chains fall to the ground and they are set free (Acts 16:25-26).

Think about the faith that was operating in Paul’s life. They took handkerchiefs and aprons which had been placed upon his body, placed them on the sick and they were healed of their diseases and delivered from evil spirits.

And God did unusual and extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, So that hand­kerchiefs or towels or aprons which had touched his skin were carried away and put upon the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

Acts 19:11-12, TAB

It was a supernatural faith within Paul that sus­tained him and gave him the ability to endure the suffering and hardships he faced. He was beat­en, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked and thrown into dungeons, but his faith never wavered.

As he faced death at the hands of Nero, he was able to say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (II Timothy 4:7).

How many Christians do you know today who are manifesting this powerful, supernatural faith?

Are you operating in the same powerful dimen­sion of faith as Peter, Paul and the other apostles and believers in the early Church?

You may think it is impossible for you to have great faith like Peter or Paul, or that God only gives this kind of faith to a few great men and women of God.

I want you to know it is possible for you to have this same powerful, supernatural faith of God operating in your life! The great faith that was manifested in the lives of Peter and Paul was not an exception; God has planned for every member of the Body of Christ to have a LIVING, ACTIVE faith operating within them, giving them the ability to do the impossible!

It’s time for us to grow up…to get the bottle nip­ple out of our mouths. It’s time for God’s end time people to rise up in a sense of maturity that will shake the world before Jesus comes!

One of the greatest weapons in the arsenal of Satan is SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE. God’s peo­ple are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. I’m not talking about words. I’m not talking about more sermons. I’m talking about going past the surface into a depth of understanding, where you walk in revelation.

There is another very powerful tool of the enemy…SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY. In this les­son, we are going to go into some revelations that are going to be very strong. And if you’re not spir­itually mature, you’re not going to be able to receive it.

There’s a difference between being born into a family and having the rights to that family. Some of us, as babies, when we are born into the family of God, immediately run off thinking we have a right to our inheritance as a child of God. It’s not true.

Paul said, “Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father” (Galatians 4:1-2).

I come from a Jewish background. Did you know that in prominent families of Jews, Greeks and others, their children were raised alongside the children of the servants and the slaves? There was no difference. In fact, they had the same schoolmaster.

It wasn’t until the son of that prominent family grew to maturity that anybody ever knew the dif­ference between the two. They lived the same. They played the same. They ate the same. There was no difference between them until that child grew into a place of maturity, and then at that point he was entitled to the inheritance of the name of the family he was born into.

Could it be that one of the reasons we, as sons and daughters of God, have not possessed our inheritance is because we have not grown up, and we have no right to our inheritance until we mature?

God is saying to us: “Grow up! Get the bottle nipple out of your mouth. Start acting like sol­diers. March against the devil! Declare war!

God has planned that the Church of Jesus Christ operate in the same power…in the same anointing…IN THE SAME MANIFESTATION OF FAITH that Jesus operated under!

It is possible! But until we grow up, we will never be able to have this powerful manifesta­tion of faith operating in our lives.

GOD PLANNED FOR US TO POSSESS A
SUPERNATURAL FAITH!

God never intended for His people to be weak and powerless…struggling to believe His promis­es, struggling to produce enough faith to walk in victory over the enemy and work the works of God. From the very beginning, God planned and purposed to raise up a people, place His Spirit and power within them, and infuse them with a SUPERNATURAL FAITH that would enable them to manifest His power and glory to the world.

The faith that was manifested in the early Church in such a powerful demonstration was not a natural faith. The faith that enabled Peter and Paul to walk in such power was not their own. It was not a faith that they had worked up or strug­gled to produce.

As the lame man came into the Temple, leap­ing and praising God, the people were amazed and began to look upon Peter as if he had some­how by his own power worked this great miracle. Peter told them, “Men of Israel, why do you mar­vel at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk?” (Acts 3:12, NAS).

It was not Peter’s faith, or even the lame man’s faith that produced this great miracle. In verse 16, we see a powerful truth revealed that the Church has failed to see. Look closely at what Peter said:

And his name, through and by faith in His name, has made this man whom you see and recognize well and strong. (Yes,) the faith which is through and by Him (Jesus) has given the man this perfect soundness (of body) before all of you.

Acts 3:16, TAB

Circle the word “faith” in this verse. Peter was talking about “the supernatural faith that comes through JESUS!”

It was through an exercise of faith in Jesus’ Name that the lame man was instantly healed. However, this miracle of healing was not depen­dent upon a natural faith or man’s ability to believe. It was not a result of Peter exercising his own faith, but by exercising the supernatural faith that comes through Jesus.

In Paul’s life, it was not his natural faith that enabled him to work mighty miracles. It was the supernatural faith of Jesus that was ALIVE…working within him. He said, “I am cruci­fied with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh i live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Paul was not dependent upon his own natural faith. He lived his life in the power of the SUPER­NATURAL FAITH of Jesus Christ Who lived within him. That is why his faith never faltered and never failed…it was Christ’s faith flowing through him.

One of the major reasons the Church today is not operating in the powerful dimension of faith God intended, is because of a lack of understand­ing what faith is, how it operates, and how it is released into our lives. There has been so much wrong teaching, most Christians are either con­fused or have a wrong concept concerning what real faith is.

The Church, in seeking to have the faith Jesus said we should have, has manufactured a COUN­TERFEIT FAITH that is based upon man’s ability to believe.

This month, as you study this lesson, you are going to know the truth and the truth is going to set you free! You are going to be able to see the difference between counterfeit faith and the faith of God. The uncertainties and confusion you have had concerning faith are going to be removed, and you are going to know, that you know, that you know you possess the faith of God because it is going to be a powerful force operating in your life.

FAITH IS A SUPERNATURAL LIFE SOURCE!

God intends for you to have operating in your life a faith that never wavers; that makes possi­ble the impossible; that meets every challenge, every circumstance, every condition, and doesn’t fluctuate.

The faith He intends for you to have is not the product of the natural mind. It is not the work of man. Man cannot manufacture it or work it up. It’s impossible! Regardless of how hard man may struggle, he does not have the ability to pro­duce faith.

Faith is a SUPERNATURAL LIFE SOURCE imparted by God into the life of every believer to manifest the life of Christ. It links and binds us to God and enables us to receive all that God has provided for us in His covenant with us.

This supernatural faith is the means whereby we are able to come near to God, are accepted by Him, and enter into a personal, intimate rela­tionship with Him. Paul told the Hebrews:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Hebrews 11:6

By this faith we are saved:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

Ephesians 2:8

Circle the words “and that not of your­selves” in this verse. (We will go more in-depth into how faith is a gift of God and how it is released into your life in Week Three. Get ready for a breakthrough!)

By this faith, we are justified and have access into His grace:

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1-2

By this faith, we are made righteous:

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righ­teousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.

Romans 3:21-22

By this faith, Christ in all His fullness lives in our hearts, and we have access to all that He is and has:

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.

Ephesians 3:16-17

By this faith, we receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and are endued with the “dunamis” miracle-working power of God:

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Galatians 3:13-14

Jesus told His disciples:

…wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.

Acts 1:4-5

The disciples acted in faith upon this promise and were baptized in the Holy Spirit and received His miracle-working power. As we act in faith upon this promise, we receive this same miracle-working power!

By this faith, we are able to wage war and quench ALL the fiery darts of Satan:

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Ephesians 6:16

By this faith, we are able to live victoriously and overcome the world:

For whatsoever is born of God over­cometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

I John 5:4

By this faith…

• We can conquer kingdoms!
• We can perform acts of righteousness!
• We can obtain all the promises of God!
• We can overcome every obstacle…stop the mouths of lions, quench the violence of fire and escape the edge of the sword!
• We are made strong!
• We are mighty in battle!
• We put the enemy to flight!

YOU CAN HAVE THE SUPERNATURAL FAITH OF GOD WHERE NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE TO YOU!

This is the supernatural faith God intends for you to have.

Don’t settle for a counterfeit faith.

Don’t depend upon the strength of your own faith.

Don’t listen to Satan’s lies that you cannot have this type of faith, where NOTHING IS IMPOSSI­BLE TO YOU.

Say aloud: “Faith is my life source!”

God has placed this supernatural faith within you. You don’t need to struggle to produce it or work it up. It’s already there inside of you. He has planted it within your spirit. (This truth is liter­ally going to explode within you. By the time you finish this lesson, you are going to recognize and know that it is in you!)

It is not something that fluctuates…that is here today and gone tomorrow. It is not something that you exercise only when you have a great need in your life. Paul said, “The just shall LIVE by faith” (Romans 1:17). You are to live your life moment by moment, day after day, energized and empowered by this supernatural faith of Almighty God. Paul said, “The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Faith is a life to be lived! Paul lived his life by the faith of Jesus Christ which was in him. He drew his very life from this faith. He was strength­ened and sustained by it. He was able to endure great suffering and affliction, perform mighty mira­cles and fulfill the will of God because this super­natural faith was ALIVE within him.

The apostle Paul said, “Without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). Can you imagine the number the devil tries to do on Christians today…the guilt-trip that he tries to put on us when we don’t know whether or not we have faith?

Paul didn’t say there was a fifty-fifty chance…he said if you don’t walk in faith, forget it…you are not pleasing God. That’s all there is to it!

You can understand now why the devil wants to keep you in this struggle. You can understand why he wants to keep you on pills and medicine and looking to the arm of flesh.

A tremendous amount of Christianity today is nothing more than people going through the forms and motions of religion, and they don’t have the reality of what we’re talking about. And I’m talking about Charismatic Christians as well.

God is going to sweep away the metaphysical from the charismatic. There is going to be a line drawn. The mental power people are going to be on one side of the line, and the Spirit-filled people on the other. We’re going to find out it’s not by might, nor by power, but by God’s Spirit. We’re going to put our minds on the altar and they’re going to be crucified!

Without faith, forget it! If you have a struggle, you need to find out how to get faith.

If you’re going through the wringer in your spiri­tual experience, where the devil’s doing a number on you, you’d better know how to declare war on the devil, and you’d better know how to find faith.

If you don’t think you have it, you’d better know how to get it! Because if you don’t have it, you cannot please God!

When God says that without faith it is impossi­ble to please Him, He’s not talking about a wishy-washy, backboneless kind of historical Christianity. Paul said, “Without faith it’s impossi­ble to please him.” Then he qualified it. He said, “For he that cometh to God must (not only) believe he is…” Do you have any idea of how many people are going around saying, “Oh, I believe in God”?

There are a lot of people in the world today who BELIEVE in God. There are many who believe that God created this world, but they don’t know anything about Him.

Look closely at this verse again. Paul said, “Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligent­ly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

To simply BELIEVE that God is…is not even the beginning of faith. That’s just BELIEF. It’s not enough for us to believe that somewhere, someplace up in the heavens, there’s something called God. That’s not faith!

We must believe what? That God is alive…that He hears us when we pray…that we have a relationship with that God, and that He is a rewarder…He hears and answers prayer. That’s faith!

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MAN TO PRODUCE
THE SUPERNATURAL FAITH OF GOD!

God has given us this supernatural faith, so that we can LIVE in a powerful dimension where we are able to simply speak the Word and literal­ly move mountains and obstacles out of our way. Because of our lack of understanding concerning faith, we have not appropriated it. Instead, we have relied upon our natural faith. We have struggled and tried to produce enough faith to receive what we need from God.

Within the past few years, there has been a major emphasis on “faith teaching.” There are those who have taught that all that is necessary to have strong faith is to have a “positive confes­sion” based upon the Word of God. They teach that, regardless of the outward circumstances, if you will keep a “positive confession”…keep say­ing, “I am healed”; “I have the finances I need”; “I have the car I need”…that it will come to pass. They think that simply by the act of speaking forth what they need, they will have the faith to produce the results.

Others teach that whatever you need from God, “visualize” it in your mind. If you need heal­ing, picture yourself healed. If you need finances, picture yourself receiving the money you need. These are all processes of the natural mind. This same principle is known as “visual­ization” and is taught in metaphysics and “Sci­ence of Mind” churches.

There are teachers and ministers who use the verse, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17) out of context. This Scripture has been quoted and misunder­stood…quoted and never experienced…because revelation did not accompany the people speak­ing it. Ninety percent of all the preachers who

quote this do not have the slightest idea what this verse actually means.

The most common interpretation of this verse is that when you listen to the Scripture being preached, faith comes. This is probably true to the development of faith, but not to the implanting of faith.

Faith is not implanted in our lives through the natural sense of hearing, or by the memorization or repetition of Scripture. If a person repeated the same verse every day for a year, he would still not be able to see the results until he spoke the Word in faith.

We cannot produce the supernatural faith of God and see the results simply by the act of speaking the Word. Many Christians are con­fused in this area. This teaching is actually oppo­site of what Jesus taught. Speaking the Word does not produce the faith. When we speak the Word in faith, then we see the results. The supernatural faith of God is already in us and when we speak it forth, there is no wavering and WE RECEIVE THE RESULTS. God’s faith never fails to produce results.

Faith comes by a spiritual sense of hearing when you receive the LIVING WORD, Jesus Christ. When you receive Jesus, you receive His supernatural faith. (More about this in Week Three.)

It is important for you to remember that the faith of God is not a function of the natural mind. It is not our ability to believe a promise or truth.

Belief is a mental process of the natural mind. It is a mental assent or acceptance of a statement or fact as being true. It is one thing to BELIEVE in a promise…to BELIEVE in God…to BELIEVE with your mind that God will meet your needs…and quite another to appropriate His promises by faith. The Word of God teaches us that the devils also believe and tremble (James 2:19).

Many Christians look at a promise and then struggle with all their mental abilities to bring about the result by their own belief. This is not faith.

It is not enough to simply BELIEVE…to have “head knowledge”…that the promises of God are true. You must have the supernatural faith of God operating in your heart.

SATAN’S STRATEGY IS TO KEEP YOU
WAVERING!

In all our struggling to produce faith and build our faith, the Church is not operating in the pow­erful dimension of faith God intended. The major­ity of Christians today are depending upon their own natural ability to believe, instead of exercis­ing and releasing the supernatural faith of God that is within them.

This is one of the major reasons why we are not receiving more answers to our prayers. Without the faith of God, we are cut off from our Power Source and are unable to receive anything from Him.

James wrote:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of

God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

James 1:5-7 Do you know why the devil wants you to waver?

Do you know why he wants your experience to be up on one day and down the next?

Do you know why the devil wants you to claim the promises, and when you don’t receive them, begin to vacillate in your experience?

Because he knows that if you waver, you’re not going to receive ANYTHING from God!

When we come to God, we must come to Him IN FAITH…not with a faith that wavers or fluctu­ates according to our circumstances…not with our own natural ability to believe…but with the super­natural faith that is imparted into our hearts by God.

One of Satan’s strategies is to keep you waver­ing…keep you trusting in the power of your faith, instead of exercising the faith of God that is in and through Jesus Christ. He knows that if he can keep you wavering, he will keep you from experi­encing God’s promises.

He will bring symptoms of sickness and disease upon your body in an attempt to make your faith waver, so that you will not receive your healing.

He will try to use circumstances to make you doubt concerning the salvation of your loved

ones, or to make you doubt His provision for sup­plying your needs.

He will try to make you worry concerning the basic necessities of life…how to feed and clothe your family, how to pay your bills, how to buy the things you need. As long as you are wavering and allow doubt to creep in, you will not be able to receive what you need from God.

Satan doesn’t want you to enter into a relation­ship with God where you know Him…where you are daily trusting and depending upon Him…where you have come into the full knowl­edge that His faith is in you, and you are drawing upon that faith as your life Source.

There was a wonderful man of God who went to be with the Lord many years ago, who had a marvelous, supernatural ministry of healing. A woman sat in a wheelchair in his meetings for about a week. One day, as this minister walked into the meeting, he noticed the lady had a glow on her face.

He looked at her and said, “You look different tonight.” She said, “I am different.” He asked, “What’s different about you?” She responded, “I’m going to be healed tonight.”

Her wheelchair was too big to get in a car, so they brought her in a little van. She told him, “I sent the van driver home. I’m not going to need this wheelchair anymore.”

And that dear woman didn’t need the van! When the time came for prayer to be offered for the sick, the minister went over to where she was sitting in her wheelchair, laid his hand upon her, and she leaped up out of that wheelchair, almost before he could get his hand on her head!

A few days later, he came into the meeting again. There was another woman sitting in a wheelchair. She called him over and said, “I sent my van home tonight.” He asked, “What do you mean?” She said, “Well, don’t you remember Sis­ter ‘so-and-so,’ who sent her van home?” He said, “Yes, I do.” “Well, I sent my van home tonight,” she told him.

His heart sank, because he knew that she was trying to copy what someone else had done, hop­ing it would work for her. She had nothing but presumption…no faith. When this woman looked at this man’s face that reflected the sorrow of his heart, she said, “Well, it worked for `so-and-so’…it should work for me.”

We get hung up on clichés. “If God did it for `so-and-so,’ He will do it for you.” How many times have we heard this in our churches and in meetings? It is not, “If God did it for ‘so-and- so,’ He’ll do it for you.” It’s not, “If God did it this way for ‘so-and-so,’ God will do it for you.” No…not at all! It is because of JESUS!

If you waver…if you have the slightest doubt, you’re not going to get anything. But there is no reason for you to waver. There’s no reason for you to doubt!

The time has come for you to grow up. It’s time for you to have an EXPERIENCE where you are operating in the same manifestation of faith that Jesus operated under!

Say it again: “Faith is my life source!”

Faith is a life to be lived! Paul told the Corinthi­ans, “We live by faith, not by sight” (II Corinthians 5:7, NIV). Our lives are not to be regulated by what we see, think or feel. We are not to be con­trolled and guided by our natural senses.

Yet that is exactly what many Christians are doing today. When they feel good…when things are running smoothly…when there is money in the bank…their faith is strong. But when the circumstances are reversed…and they are sick, fac­ing financial problems or problems in their mar­riage or family…their faith is weak. One day they are up and the next day they are down.

We are to LIVE our lives regulated by the faith of Almighty God! Paul said, “…the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

THE REQUISITE FOR OBTAINING THE
IMPOSSIBLE IS THE ABSENCE OF DOUBT!

On three separate occasions, Jesus taught and dramatically illustrated to His disciples this super­natural faith we are to have operating in our lives.

Turn to Mark 11 and read verses 12-24.

Every movement of Christ was for a divine pur­pose. Jesus was staying in Bethany and traveling back and forth to Jerusalem, where He was min­istering and teaching during the day. One morn­ing on the road to Jerusalem, Jesus, being hungry, came to a fig tree that was covered with leaves to see if He could find any fruit on it. The fig season had not yet come and there was no fruit on the e.

I can almost see myself walking with the Mas­ter today down that Bethany road. I’ve been there many times. There was a powerful anoint­ing flowing out of Jesus. At the Jordan River, He had been baptized with the Holy Spirit. God had anointed Him with the Holy Ghost and power (Acts 10:38).

God intended that same Holy Spirit…not a dif­ferent power…not a different manifestation…but the SAME power and the SAME manifestation that anointed Jesus Christ to walk in the Spirit of God…to heal the sick…to raise the dead…to still the winds…to be upon the Church!

Say aloud: “God intends for the same POWER…the same ANOINTING and the same FAITH that were manifested in Christ’s life to be manifested in me!”

Jesus came to this fig tree for a divine purpose.

I believe He came to this tree to give to the Church an object lesson.

Jesus, finding no fruit, spoke to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again! And His dis­ciples were listening” (Mark 11:14, NAS).

He did not curse the tree because He was angry that it had failed to produce any fruit. He had a specific purpose in mind in teaching His disciples a dynamic truth concerning faith.

Jesus and His disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, where Jesus cleansed the Temple of the money-changers. That evening they returned to Bethany.

The following morning as they were again on their way to Jerusalem, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots! With great amazement, Peter said, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered” (Mark 11:21, N IV).

Jesus already knew the fig tree was dead. He knew it would be dead the moment He spoke to it. His faith did not waver. He released the super­natural faith within Him, and it was done.

Jesus told His disciples:

Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Mark 11:22-23

There is probably not another Scripture more misquoted, misunderstood and misused in our day than those last few words of that Scripture.

Now look at verse 24. Jesus said:

Therefore I say unto you, What things so’ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

There is a vast difference between believing and having faith. You can never enter into the experience of this verse in your life until you have passed through the experience of verse 23.

Jesus said, “I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be cast into the sea; AND SHALL NOT DOUBT IN HIS HEART…” The requisite for obtaining the impossible is the ABSENCE OF DOUBT!

When the manifestation of faith is truly in our lives, it cannot be explained. It doesn’t make any difference about what we are facing, how big it is or what it is. There is the absence of doubt. There’s not the slightest tinge of fear, concern or doubt.

Jesus DEMONSTRATED the type of faith we are to have, faith that can do the impossible. Then He said, “Have faith in God.” The literal translation from the original Greek means “have the faith of God,” or “have the faith God gives.” What Jesus was trying to get the disciples to see by performing this miracle was:

1. The demonstration of the unlimited power of the supernatural faith of God.
2. The revelation of the type of faith they were to have operating in their lives.

Jesus wanted His disciples to know that if they had this kind of faith (the faith of God)…not the product of man…not man’s natural ability to believe…but the supernatural faith of God in them, they would not only be able to do what He had done to the fig tree, but they would be able to speak to the mountain, as He had spoken to the fig tree, and the mountain would be removed and cast into the sea.

WHAT WE NEED TODAY IS A MANIFESTATION OF THE SUPERNATURAL FAITH OF GOD!

In the recent “faith teachings,” the major emphasis has been on speaking the Word as a method of producing faith, instead of having the faith of God. When you have the faith of God ,then you will be able to speak to the mountain and it will be cast into the sea, and nothing shall

be impossible to you. When you have the faith of God and you speak, there will be no wavering…no doubt. It won’t be necessary for you to repeat it over and over again. It will be done.

Circle the word “believe” in the above vers­es. The Greek word for “believe” is “pisteuo,” which refers to more than a mental assent, and means a continual reliance upon and trust in God.

Jesus was saying that if we have the faith of God and do not doubt or waver in our hearts, but BELIEVE…continually relying upon and trusting in God…we will have WHATEVER we ask.

Too often, we interpret “have faith in God” in this Scripture to mean that we have confidence in

God’s power to move a mountain. We think, “If only I had enough faith in God”; “If only I can believe hard enough”; “If only I can remove all doubt out of my heart, then God will move that mountain.”

Our natural faith in God and His promises would never be strong enough! There is a

tremendous amount of difference between man’s

faith IN God, and the faith OF God that He imparts within us. It is a faith that we get from

Him, not one that we struggle to produce accord­ing to our own mental attitudes or positive confes­sions of faith.

What Jesus was talking about in these verses was God’s faith. He was telling His disciples to

have the faith that God gives and you won’t have to struggle…all you will need to do is speak, and whatever you ask will come to pass.

On another occasion the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Lord, increase our faith” (Luke 17:5).

Jesus did not answer them by giving them a formula to increase their faith. He told them, “If

ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you” (Luke 17:6).

The sycamine tree was a large tree. Its roots were known to be extraordinarily strong and it

was considered that it could stand on the earth six hundred years. In using this tree as an exam­ple, Jesus was referring to something that was humanly impossible.

The mustard seed is known as one of the smallest seeds. Yet Jesus said that IF the disci-

 

pies had faith…the faith of God…the size of this small seed, they would be able to do the impossi­ble.

The disciples did not need to increase their faith; they needed God’s faith imparted to them. They had a natural ability to believe, but they did not have the supernatural faith…that never wavers, that never fails, that can do the impossible.

On several occasions, Jesus had rebuked the disciples for their weak faith and UNBELIEF.

Out in the boat in the midst of a howling storm, when they cried out in fear, Jesus said, “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark 4:40).

When Jesus walked on the water to where His disciples were in a boat being tossed with the waves, they became troubled and afraid.

And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and begin­ning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

Matthew 14:25-30

When Peter took his eyes off Jesus and got them on his circumstances, his heart and mind were filled with fear and unbelief!

The secret to having whatever we ask is the ABSENCE OF DOUBT. Jesus said, “Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart…”

One day a man brought his son, who suffered greatly from seizures, to the disciples to heal him. The disciples had done all they knew to do. They had rebuked the devil. I imagine they had shout­ed and groaned like we do so many times when we pray for the sick. But nothing happened.

When Jesus came upon the multitude who had gathered around the disciples, the man fell at Jesus’ feet, begging for His mercy. He said, “I brought him to Your disciples, and they were not able to cure him” (Matthew 17:16, TAB).

Jesus was deeply grieved by the lack of faith of the people and His disciples. He rebuked them, “0 faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? (verse 17, KJV).

Jesus had them bring the boy to Him. He did not struggle. There was no fierce battle or long, drawn-out prayer. Jesus simply spoke and the devil fled.

Later the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked Him, “Why could not we cast him out?” (Matthew 17:19). Jesus answered them:

…Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this moun­tain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossi­ble unto you.

Matthew 17:20

Jesus told them it was because of their UNBE­LIEF that they were unable to cast out the devil and heal the boy.

The disciples BELIEVED in Jesus. They BELIEVED in His promises. They BELIEVED in His miracles. They BELIEVED, but that was not enough. The reason for their failure in the healing of this boy was because of UNBELIEF. They did not have the unwavering faith of God. What they needed was not a great amount of their faith, but just a small amount…THE SIZE OF A TINY MUS­TARD SEED…of the faith of God, and they would be able to speak the Word and see the impossible happen.

THE REASON WE AREN’T SEEING MORE OF GOD’S POWER RELEASED IS BECAUSE OF OUR UNBELIEF!

After the resurrection, none of the disciples believed the report that Jesus had risen from the dead. Jesus appeared to them as they were eat­ing, and rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

Mark 16:14

Jesus had died on the cross, had been buried in the grave and resurrected from the dead. He had already appeared to Mary and His disciples. The word went out…Jesus is alive! He is resur­rected! The grave could not hold Him…He is alive!

But in the heart of those disciples who had heard this message was UNBELIEF. Every time the women came to them and said, “He is risen,” they said, “We don’t believe it!”

Jesus, in His resurrected body, came into the room where the apostles were sitting at the table eating. Every one of them was jellyfish, back-boneless, spineless…unbelievers all! And Jesus rebuked them because of their unbelief.

These were people who walked with Jesus, talked with Him, saw Him perform miracles…open the eyes of the blind…unstop deaf ears…raise the dead…calm the wind and the waves; AND THEY STILL DID NOT BELIEVE!

Faith must come to us through some experi­ence other than somebody saying, “If you’ll only show me a miracle, I’ll believe.” It must come a deeper way.

I know it looked hopeless when they couldn’t cast out the devils, when they couldn’t keep their eyes on the Master, when they fell, when they didn’t believe, and when they ran in fear to hide.

Here is where we make the transition of all transitions, from the natural world into the spirit world…for faith is not a natural life force!

Man has five natural senses. We touch. We taste. We see. We hear. We smell. These are five natural senses given to us by God. But man does not reach God with his natural senses.

You say, “Brother Cerullo, doesn’t God’s Word say, ‘So then faith cometh by hearing, and hear­ing by the word of God”? (Romans 10:17). Yes, it does. But we don’t understand what that means. Many people think that it’s hearing the Word and getting hold of a promise and standing upon that Word. That’s why a lot of Christians are saying things and nothing is happening.

It’s not saying the words that is important. It is the ability of speaking the Word IN FAITH that is important! If the Word is not mixed with faith, it is like an empty, hollow drum. You will pray, plead, beg…but you will not receive what you ask.

We cannot reach God with our natural senses. But once you experience a supernatural manifes­tation of faith, then you no longer see with human eyes…you see with eyes that show you nothing is impossible to him that believeth!

You hear with ears that speak to you…that tell you faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word.

You taste with a supernatural hunger. And you smell with faith connected to a beautiful new fra­grance that you have not been aware of before…the aroma of the Spirit of the power of the living God!

STOP STRUGGLING… AND RECEIVE THE

SUPERNATURAL FAITH OF GOD!

Jesus, after rebuking the disciples, looked at that group of unbelieving, backboneless, faithless people and said to them, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). This group couldn’t even meet the criteria of the example of the life of Jesus. Tell me, how were they going to preach the Gospel? They weren’t equipped. They were full of fear and unbelief. And in their condition, they were unable to work the works of God and prove to an unbe­lieving world that Jesus was Who He claimed to be…the Son of the living God! They didn’t have the faith!

Jesus knew they weren’t ready and that they wouldn’t be ready until they received the same power and anointing of the Holy Spirit that had been manifested in His life. So He told them to go to Jerusalem and wait until they were baptized with the Holy Ghost and power.

Jesus said, “Wait for the promise of the Father, which (saith he) ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence” (Acts 1:4-5).

He said, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you” (Acts 1:8).

Jesus told them, “When I get back to My Father, the Holy Ghost is going to come upon

you. And once the power, once the anointing, once the same experience that I had comes upon you…you’ll be witnesses…you’ll have My faith…you’ll be able to do the same works!”

God never intended for you to go forth to fulfill the will of God under your own anointing. He never intended for you to go forth under your own power. He never intended for you to go in your own strength or capabilities. He intended you to live…to move…to operate under the same power as Jesus!

Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth…” (Matthew 28:18). “…as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (John 20:21).

Today God intends for you and me to operate under the same power, the same authority, the same anointing, and the same manifestation of faith that Jesus had!

Peter and John were among these disciples who lacked faith. In the garden, they all fled in fear and left Him alone. As Jesus was being tried, Peter denied Him three times. When He appeared to them after His resurrection, they were all hiding behind closed doors.

Yet these same disciples, after Pentecost, were able to work great miracles among the people. They spoke the Word and the lame walked. They spoke the Word and devils were cast out. They spoke the Word and the dead were raised to life.

No more struggling…no more striving to believe. What happened to transform these men into those who could do the impossible?

Faith came! They received the faith of God and it became a living, powerful force within them.

Christians today, like the disciples, are wonder­ing why we are not able to speak the Word in faith and see cripples get out of their wheelchairs, speak the Word and the blind see, speak the Word and have our needs met. The answer is clear — because of our unbelief.

There are Christians who are crying out, “Lord, increase our faith.” They are struggling to pro­duce more faith in God. What we need today is not more of our faith, but to receive the faith that God gives…that He has already placed within us. We need to understand what it is and then begin to appropriate it in our lives.

You can have the mountain-moving faith of God operating in your life! This week, this very moment, let every struggle within your heart cease. Regardless of how hard or how long you may try, you will never be able to produce the supernatural faith that never wavers…that moves the hand of God.

God has already implanted this supernatural faith in you. It’s in you now. All you need to do is to understand what it is, and RECEIVE IT!

Next week, you are going to receive a spiritual breakthrough in your understanding of what faith is. Begin this week to walk in greater strength than ever before, knowing the supernatural faith of Jesus Christ is in you. Live your life this week by the faith of the Son of God.