Las Vegas Faith Center - Gods Word, Faith Messages, Spiritual Coaching and Religion Studies

From Faith to Faith

The Las Vegas Faith Center
Message from Sunday, June 6, 1999

“From Faith to Faith”
by Tiger Todd - Sr. Pastor
(Edited Church Sermon)

There are a number of things that I want to share today. I had several experiences that actually moved me into almost redoing the message, but with a fresher understanding. Rather than go back to an old message with the same scriptures, I wanted to see if there was another perspective.

Those that have been around here for any period of time have changed. Their mind has been renewed. And if someone continues to have their mind renewed, as we do, you become transformed. You begin to see other views. You begin to see the other side of things, and what is really important.

I want to show you something in Mark Chapter 5, and then turn you to Sunrise Hospital Chapter 4, verse 20. We’ll start in verse 20 And he (meaning the person that was just healed) departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel. This was the man that had all the demons cast out of him. When Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea. And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet. And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him. I don’t need to read the rest of the story. En route to Jairus’ house, all these people thronged Jesus. Let’s cut to the chase in order to concentrate on the story concerning the ruler of the synagogue, Jairus, and his daughter. Verse 35 While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John, the brother of James. And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.

Yesterday, I was at Sunrise Hospital. The day before, there had been a health emergency. The doctors had given up hope on a two year old girl. They had tried to find out what was wrong with her, and in doing so, they had taken an x-ray requiring barium to be introduced into her body. Well, barium often causes constipation, and the little two year old hadn’t gone to the bathroom in a week. Further complications collapsed her lung. And we’re finding out that often, it’s medical science that causes the problems. When problems don’t get fixed. It’s actually caused by things that they do.

That’s why this is important. When something strikes a chord to the point where it hurts, then it’s time to preach a message and get down to the bottom of things. Maybe someone who hasn’t made it to the hospital with their daughter, yet, can learn what to do first so the trip to the hospital won’t be necessary. It’s not that I’m accusing or blaming doctors, or hospitals, or medical personnel. It’s just that their science is so limited when it comes to life. They might have all these new techniques, but people still die, don’t they? More people die now than they did last year, when there were less new techniques available.

If a system has a dead-end, why do people keep pursuing that dead end? Why don’t we pursue the end that causes life? Why would they pay several hundred thousand dollars in medical bills for their child, but not spend the same amount on an Elijah or an Elisha of their day? Would they pay several hundred thousand dollars to those who raised the dead or healed the sick? Why not pay all that money to Jesus or the man of God? They actually did that in Jesus’ day, I believe in Luke chapter 8. Even Christians today want to talk about the good works God can do, but then they go spending all this money on hospital bills, where the child is still going to die because they proved to God with their treasure, who they loved more.

I want to divert here, because I’ve told God that we’ll always go where He says to go. So I’m just gonna go…

Regarding the subject of warranties: The medical profession is one of the only ones that doesn’t give you a warranty. In other words, if their procedure doesn’t work, you don’t get your money back. We’d demand a warranty with our cars. We’d demand a warranty in just about any other circumstance. But when we go to the doctor or a hospital, and pay all that money, or file insurance claims (because we’ve paid our premiums), in exchange for all that financial out-go, there’s no warranty whatsoever.

The Bible talks about a memorial prayer. I want to talk about a memorial prayer for a moment because we find that one of the biggest memorial prayers concerns this whole idea of Jesus, and who he was sent to. This church understands that he was sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. That’s where Jesus said he was sent. The House of Israel received him, and then they went out in to all the world. That world included me. Are you with me? That’s how the Bible reads.

One great example of memorial prayer actually involves someone in the Bible didn’t need to go through Jesus to make it to the Father, God. Jesus spoke to a bunch of Jewish people saying, no man has made it to the Father except by me. Well, he was talking to Jewish people, because there were a lot of people that weren’t even Jewish that made it to the Father: Noah, Seth, Enos, a bunch of people. But here it is in the Book of Acts, we find after Jesus’ resurrection, that someone actually obtained access to the Father a different way.

Please turn to Acts Chapter 10. I’m following the spirit leading me, and if God wants me to talk about this, we’ll just do it. Verse 1, There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. He was an Italian, a centurion, and he worked for Rome. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.

Here is a man that made it to God the Father by his praying and his giving. He bypassed the one named Jesus. There it is. Mark it down. Someone made it to the Father outside of going through Jesus.

Cornelius got rewarded, God sent him to Peter. Peter didn’t believe it. Peter still thought that only Jews were going to go to heaven. He didn’t go into all the world like he was supposed to. Keep reading. God sends him to Peter, and Peter says, No way, Lord. Not so. What’s he got against Italians? So we find that there is another way: it was with prayers and giving. Prayers, coupled with his giving, got him noticed by the Father. He didn’t have an altar call. He didn’t have to come to any church. He didn’t have to quote Romans Chapter 10. But he got to God the Father, which is the ultimate deal. We’re not trying to get to Jesus, we’re trying to get to the Father. Jesus’ sacrifice made what he did available, certainly. But in terms of Jesus’ ministry, it was fulfilled. He got to sit down at the right hand of God. Cornelius got it by giving. I don’t know what “it” is

We’re trying to get to the root of this. What if I were to say, “I’ll heal your child, but you have to give me $100,000”. That sounds so wrong, doesn’t it? But a doctor essentially says, I’ll heal your child if you give me $l00,000? And we pay it. What’s our problem? Double-mindedness.

Well, I prayed my prayer for that baby in the hospital, and said she’d be better in five minutes. Five minutes later, the baby pooped. I didn’t charge her a dime. The doctors aren’t going to give her guardian back the money, because they couldn’t accomplish the same thing. Actually, the doctors really owe ME the money. If I were involved in that situation, I’d be after the doctors who ordered the barium put into the child’s body that caused the problem.

This is how it works in the Bible. Call the man of God! Only in the Old Testament did they send Elijah 20 camels laden with gold, silver and other stuff as payment. They were good to the prophets back then. But we have a problem now. We think healing is free. Well, here’s where I believe the problem lies with the hospitals. If the hospital, doctors, medical community, pharmaceutical companies offered a warranty, they wouldn’t allow that sticky verse in First Timothy to pop up: The love of money is the root of all evil. They are saying, We are not going to give you your money back, even if our system doesn’t work. They are in love with money.

To Cornelius, money was a memorial. Can you see the good side of money? Cornelius gave and gave and gave, and got honored for his giving. In the Old Testament, the other kings sent twenty camels to the prophet as honor. God honored that by letting the power work through the prophet to heal Naaman the Syrian, or like for the Shunamite woman, raise a little boy from the dead. There was also the example of the woman who couldn’t have a baby, but she built the prophet a nice house, so that if he was passing by, he’d have a place to stay. When it came time, and her child died, Elijah just raised him from the dead.

We have to fix these snags. Otherwise, we’ll continue to say we believe in God, but then pay someone else to fix our problems. God is trying to show us that when you pay someone else, you actually lose what little faith you had in God, because it has been transferred to wherever else you put your money. People say, “I could never give $200,000 to the gospel”. But when they’ve got a family member get sick, they’ll come up with $200,000 for a doctor. What’s up with that? Why couldn’t they come up with it to help the man of God preach the gospel of healing, or get kids off drugs, or to preach righteousness, or change gangs, or to fix families and marriages? It looks like they only want to come up with money if it benefits them personally. I’ve seen that with the natural family. There is a different kind of tie than one with an outer family, like a church. There is this “heartstring thing”. Or maybe it’s the people around them that say, “What do you mean, you’re not gonna do that for your kid?” Maybe it’s peer pressure, parent peer pressure, whatever, but we have to realize that something’s got to change so that babies stop dying. I can’t be at every hospital.

Worse than that, even if I go to a hospital, and I’m convinced that if those I’m called to raise up are either sick or dead, it’s nothing for God or me to do. We’ve got a “Perfect” God with perfect instructions that the man of God will follow. Therefore, there is no possibility that they are not going to be well when I’m done. But remember, where your treasure is, that where your heart be also. People who are paying doctors have moved their treasure into the medical community, but are still trying to believe God for a miracle. And just like Jesus, he could do no mighty works either in that instance. If you need God, never forget that you cannot serve God and mammon. Why? When they moved their money into something that ‘s not God, it doesn’t just reduce your faith in God, it just about eliminates it. I believe it’s directly proportional. Do you have $100,000 in the Gospel here, and $100,000 in something else over there, or do you have $200 the Gospel and $200,000 in everything else. God can see where your heart is- and it’s with the heart that man believeth- because, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also!

What actually happened at the hospital? I got a call a few hours later from another woman who’d gone to visit the child. She said something like, “She’s pooping up a storm.” And I said, “I’m glad I’m not there”! But the next day, here’s what happened. Remember when Jairus said, Come heal my child. Jesus didn’t deal with the rest of the multitude, just the one who said, I believe you can do this. When he got there, someone had said, She’s already dead. Don’t bother the Master. So after the miracle that took place in the hospital, the baby’s doctor starts saying, Well, now it’s this problem. The day before, it had been that problem. We fixed that. Now let’s fix this.

Again, we’re preaching out of Sunrise Hospital, Chapter 4, verse 20: pediatric version. I walked up and said, “Be not afraid, only believe”. And the family members said, “In what?” Well, she was a believer when the child pooped. Now she was saying, “In what?” All I could say was, “Just don’t be afraid. Whatever you do, at least protect your doubt.” I shut her up the best I could, and, sure enough, things worked. The baby had no trouble. It was interesting, too, because this child is one who is not aware. She’s had a brain problem from birth. So it’s not like I’m able to whisper in the child’s ear and say, “Come on, push hard, Baby”. The child was not aware of anything going on around her. Obviously, it was God moving. I spoke for five minutes, and God honored.

The next day I received a phone call describing the next problem. And now I’m mad, because when God heals, it’s not just some sort of spot treatment….” I’ve got this other thing now, can you fix it too?” It’s not like that! The baby was healed. Her bowels moved. The healing will work, and it will continue throughout her body. The problem was, she had some doctors and nurses with the attitude of, Don’t bother the Master any further. This can’t be fixed.

I’m mad because the baby’s guardian didn’t protect her heart. I went to the hospital again. The baby is fine as far as I’m concerned. I’m not going to draw back on my faith OR my prayers. If I believe I receive when I pray, it’s done. Done!. But now I’ve turned myself loose on this woman, and she said, “Well I believe in the God of this, and that,” and I said, “I see your problem. Where were you for the last three months when all this stuff started happening? Were you coming to my church services? Were you ordering and learning from our tapes? Were you investing your money in the gospel I preach? Where were you? You don’t have any faith. You have NO faith. That’s your problem. And unfortunately, because you are an adult, Deuteronomy 30:19 says that the baby’s life lies in the balance of your faith”. She had quickly started accusing God of not doing things, but all the while, it was her own fault.

She said, “I have faith in God!” I replied, “Well, there’s the problem”. We’re in a new age, and we have a whole new type of faith. And that’s what I want to remind you of today. There are many different “faiths”. Now her friend, the one who called me, is full of faith, so I motioned for her to come over next to me. We walked away from the nurses, and all the crying, and she explained that the baby’s condition began to deteriorate when her relative, the one in charge of the baby, went to nursing school. It was almost prophetic, because she had learned all about toxins, and had gotten familiar with all those other medical situations. Well, shut up with all that! The problem was, she’ put her money towards her medical education, and it was draining her faith. If her education had reached the top of medical science, the baby would have been as dead as her faith. That’s the problem with investing in a dead-end.

Let me get back to the “faith thing”. This woman may not have known that there was more faith than the type of faith she thought she had. So, let’s get into that now.

Turn to Hebrews Chapter 11 verse 4, By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 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. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. Verse 24, By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land; which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she received the spies with peace. And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets; Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment. they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented. Of whom the world was not worthy: they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

That’s the history of the big gun saints. But read the next verse. God having provided some better thing for us, Well, let’s just stop for a moment, and see if it’s talking about by faith, by faith, by faith…that maybe the “some better thing” is a better type of faith.

Turn to First Timothy Chapter 5 verse 1, Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity. Honour widows that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home, Now it might seem silly that we’re reading this scripture about widow women. But remember what we just read in Hebrews Chapter 11? It was women that received their dead to life. If you go back through the Bible about who was raised from the dead, it was always the children of women that couldn’t have any more, widows’ children, or the man that women depended on. You’ll find it in Elijah and Elisha’s ministry, with the boys that they raised from the dead. You’ll find it in the City of Nain, regarding a widow and the boy at the coffin. You find it, too, with Lazarus, who was raised from the dead because of Mary and Martha. He was their whole support system in the house. There is something about a widow woman that God honors. And that’s what you have to realize when you’re reading this section in Timothy.

Verse 5, Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth. These things give in charge, that they may be blameless. But if any provide nor for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old, having been the wife of one man, Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saint’s feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; Having damnation, (that word, usually, is “judgment” in the New Testament) because they have cast off their first faith.

The Book of Hebrews said that all these other people in Hebrews did a bunch of stuff with a particular type of faith. And I want to call that the “first faith”. That would be faith IN God, just like the widow woman. She believed IN God. And a lot of people believe IN God. But there is a new and improved faith out there. There are actually two new and improved faiths. They cast off their FIRST faith That’s believing IN God. Now, here’s what believing IN God is: We read it in Hebrews. God says, Noah! Build the ark. He tells him how to build the ark, and Noah does it. He believes IN God, and does what God says. Abram! Get thee out of Ur. He believes IN God, mostly, and does what God says. We have Samson, Jephthae, and all the other ones listed. Daniel! You’ll be OK in the lions den. Just go in there, and because you believe IN God, just believe that God will honor his promise (like we read in Hebrews Chapter 11). Are you with me? This is faith IN God. But this is not the faith we are supposed to live in today.

This is the faith that most of the church world, that says they believe in God, practices. And they are just marred with tragedy. There was a lot of tragedy in the Old Testament. If you imitate what happened in the Old Testament, you’ll get the same results. But there is a new and improved faith. God having provided some better thing for us. First of all, we need to find out, Who are the us’s? So let’s find out. Look at Ephesians Chapter 1 verse 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, Keep in mind that this letter is written to the saints, to the “holies”. He later says, “as becometh saints”. Meaning, those that are actively listening to the Word to become something different: to renew their mind, to make their bodies a living sacrifice.

Jump over to verse 15, Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord (do you see that) Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you. Wait a second! Some people think that if they have faith IN God, they’re done. They think they’ve got all they need. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. And all the while, this is where Paul starts with them. He says, Because I heard you have faith in Jesus, let me tell you about the Father. I am going to pray a prayer so that the Father can give you what you really ought to have. This also leads me to believe that you wouldn’t even be able to have that if you didn’t, at least initially, have that faith in God. Right? Cornelius: same thing. He prayed continually, had faith IN God, and is giving. God says, I’ve got a memorial here. Cornelius prays in the morning and gives. Angels, get down there, and get him on to this next thing… the very same thing that Paul is talking about to the saints at Ephesus. Now that you’ve got this faith IN God, I am praying, That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the workings of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.

Now jump down in Chapter 2 and look at one of our favorite verses. Verse 8, For by grace are ye saved through faith; He’s moving them into another realm of faith. You’d better have faith IN God, but now we’re talking about a different type of faith. I’ll just keep reading. By grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Now, when did this whole thing start? I thought when we got faith IN God, we were there. But now there is this much more. There is this much more that Paul had to pray in order for them to understand that there was this much more.

Let’s go back to the Book of Mark, where we began reading about Jairus. Let’s see if we can see where this began. Look at Chapter 1. If this is a faith that changed with Christ Jesus, it should show up right here, as to when and where it changed. We have that saying in the Bible, “Jesus Christ: the same yesterday, today, and forever”. But you know, his office changed. He might have been the same. There are a lot of ways to read that. But if you said, “Tiger Todd, the same yesterday, today and forever”, that helps us to understand. You could say that today, I’m the same as I was yesterday. But does that mean that ten thousand years ago, I was the same? No, it meant yesterday, didn’t it? Because it said, yesterday. We’ve added so many of these big eternal things to very simple statements. Yeah, he’s the same yesterday, today, and then forever. But his office definitely changed. Jesus came as a king, not as a priest. John the Baptist, of the lineage of Aaron, was his priest. “No greater prophet born of a woman than John the Baptist,” was spoken out of Jesus’ own mouth. Jesus was born of a woman, but he came as a king, right? He came from the lineage of David, King of the Jews. You can’t be a king AND a priest. You’ve got to be a king OR a priest. That’s why God always paired them together: Nathan with David, Aaron with Moses, Samuel with Saul, John and Jesus.

Let’s read this. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. I want you to realize that before John opened his mouth to prepare the way, and said, Hey everybody, Come down and get baptized, there was no one before preaching that message. It was an all new message, or doctrine. None of them preached it; not Elisha, Elijah, Joshua, Caleb, or Moses.

And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. There was no sin confession in the Old Testament, unless God just spoke to one man, giving him some sort of favor. For example, “You need to confess your sin”. He’d usually show up in a vision or dream, showing him something like, You’ve made this grave error, and then, he still had a choice. But this new deal was just en mass. All the Jews in the area just came in to get dunked.

John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway, coming u out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness. He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him. Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of (baptism and repentance? NO!) the kingdom of God. He one-upped the last gospel. There had been the gospel of dunking, but this was the next one. His disciples still baptized people, but now they added something to it. And I believe it’s going to unfold, and tell us what this next message is.

If we just look at the whole Bible as the same all the time, we’ll miss the changes. We’ll try to walk in 4,000 year old faith when God has provided a better thing for us. But how many of you know that you can’t walk in what you don’t believe in? You certainly can’t walk in what you don’t know. So keep reading.

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: What did that mean? It meant that the gospel of baptism and repentance was done. It was fulfilled. Full filled. John is now in prison, and can’t preach or dunk. He’s done. Now it’s a whole new deal, and you’ll find that the people who have been dunked are probably going to chime in here and say, “I don’t remember it to be this way”. The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straighway they forsook their nets, and followed him. And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him. And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine: Why? Because it was brand new. For he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes. Well, scribes couldn’t have authority. Scribes didn’t know it. The scribes only knew the old deal. But this new deal makes you not want to go back to the old deal.

There are a lot of times where people think I’m just plain wierd. People say, “Would you pray with me?”, and I say, “We don’t need to”. Did you ever notice that about Jesus? The Caananite woman ran up to him and said, “Jesus, please pray for me!” But you didn’t find Jesus doing a lot of praying with anybody. He did all of his praying alone in the wilderness. He went off in a desert place apart to pray. We’re finding out that there’s something really unique about this. You’ll find the same thing with the apostle Paul. So it’s not just Jesus that was praying alone. You’ll find out it took a long time for Peter to get praying out of his system. He was kind of like, “Come on, group hug. Let’s hold hands”. We’re not against praying. We’re into getting the new deal. And there is a new kind of faith we need to know. So I’m just going to blurt it out. It’s not faith IN God. It’s the very Faith OF God.

There is a new faith. Someone could ask, “Why do you go to the church at Peppertree?” And you could respond, “Well, I’ve really got faith in Tiger.” But wouldn’t it be different to say, I have the faith OF Tiger? Certainly it would! So you can see the difference. You can have faith IN God and believe IN God, but if you have the Faith OF God, you could say, I desire a brand new car! And it’s there.

Now watch how this works, because Jesus taught with authority, not as the scribes. And there was in their synagogue (of course, where demons would hang out) a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. He didn’t say, “Let’s pray. Oh God, save us from this.”

Faith IN God. If you remember the verse in Hebrews Chapter 11, faith IN God was saving the life of the man of God and his family. (or anyone who had enough sense to go to the man of God to get their family saved from sickness, disease, dead boys, slavery to debt, whatever it was throughout the Old Testament.)

Faith IN God s, as John Avanzini puts it, faith that saves your fat from the fire. Jesus recalled that in Elijah’s day, there were many widows. But Jesus was only sent to one. So only one, really, had that level of faith in God. And with Noah, his family only went along because Noah had faith in God. So this is a personal, or you might even say a selfish faith. This is the only level of faith that the people have that accuse the prosperity and healing people of heresy. It is the obsolete “faith IN God” folk that accuse the “Faith OF God” folk of “naming it and claiming it”, and speaking to things, and being “prosperity” people, and all the while, those accusers are the very people that only operate in the selfish kind of faith!

When I had a desire in my heart, and I spoke forth a Ford Explorer and a Ford Van, it wasn’t for me! If it was, a Lotus SE Twin Turbo would have manifested. So the “name it and claim it” folk aren’t trying to get things for themselves. They’re trying to get things for the gospel. If you give me $l00,000 for healing your son as a memorial prayer to God, so that God will move on your behalf, God sees that you now have your heart in this deal. Where your treasure is, that where your heart be also. If you don’t have any treasure in something, your heart won’t be there. I can heal your baby for a day, but you won’t keep the baby alive for another day if your heart has drifted to wherever your faith is now. And if your treasure moves, so does your faith. The baby dies.

This is very simple, and very practical. We understand how this works. But if I got $l00,000 for the healing, do you think I would just lavish it on my own lust? I don’t have any lusts left! If I buy a football, I leave it at the homeless outreach. If I buy new shoes, I leave them at the homeless outreach. If I buy Eli some shoes, I leave HIS shoes at the homeless outreach. Then I buy him more shoes. I’m, what they say, not good with money. But I’m all God with money, because I’ve been changed and renewed with this different type of faith. I speak forth things that cost money, because there are two ways of getting things: money and faith. Sometimes your faith will get someone else to move with their money. Sometimes, just as in the hospital, people need stuff that money won’t buy, no matter how much you have.

Jesus spoke to the demon, and he obeyed and left, verse 26 again of Mark:1, And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him. And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this?

Well, I believe this is part of the God having provided “some better thing for us” doctrine. For with authority, commandeth he even the unclean spirits and they do obey him.

Now jump over to Mark Chapter 4. Let’s look at some other things. In Chapter 3, he heals the guy with the withered hand, In Chapter 4, he finishes teaching them about the kingdom of God, with parables, and expounds all things to the disciples. The same day… verse 35, And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

That’s very similar to what happened at Jairus’ house, right? They were all encouraging him, “Go get the Master. Go get Jesus, We’ve heard of his fame throughout the region. He healed all that were sick in Capernaum.” But as soon as they start getting their faith up, all of a sudden, they get sidetracked when the daughter’s life signs start to drop. She stops breathing, and suddenly, you find out how much faith they have in their hearts. You find out how much, and where their faith really is.

The same thing is true here. A strong wind arose while the disciples were in the ship. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

I don’t think Jesus said, Come let us pass over to the other side, but half way across, we’ll perish. No, he said, Let’s pass over to the other side. Verse 39, And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. He didn’t pray, “Oh God, if you love me, turn this storm off!” People think that storms and stuff like that come from God. No, only unexplained storms come from God. Unexplained. Like fire that’s in the shape of an eagle that trots along and blocks you from going places (like the one at the Red Sea)- that’s a God storm. But a tornado that just plows through Oklahoma City is not a God storm. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? Obviously, they had some sort of faith, but what kind of faith didn’t they have? They had faith IN God, or they wouldn’t have been following Jesus. They wouldn’t have gotten into the boat with him.

If you’re breathing, you’ve got Faith #1. Adults look for their house keys because they know the key will undo the lock. They don’t have to know how a lock works. They’ll take their car key and start the car. They have to have some sort of faith to do that. They believe in the key that will start the car. They don’t have to know how the car works. They’ll even blame the car when they turn the key and it doesn’t work, because they’ve got faith that the key is supposed to start it. When it doesn’t start, they’ll start speaking to it, kicking it, and however else they vent their frustration.

There is another kind of faith that could speak to the car, and even if the car didn’t have an engine, the car would still take you down the road. That’s the kind of faith the disciples apparently didn’t have when Jesus said, How can you not have this kind of faith?

Why did Jesus think they had that kind of faith? Jesus wouldn’t have judged them on something they weren’t using unless they’d had an opportunity to get it and know it. Well, as Romans Chapter 10 says, “The righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise. And if thou shalt confess”... Apparently, if you don’t know the Word, and faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word; and you haven’t spent your time hearing the Word, but just spent your time in wonder and amazement, in thinking you didn’t need to read the Bible, then apparently all you’re going to have is Faith #1. You’re not going to have Faith #2.

The problem today is that everyone has Faith #1 in an age that demands Faith #2 to have victory.First Thessalonians says that the wicked and unreasonable don’t have faith. That’s not talking about Faith #1, because they still have faith their cars will start. Wicked men are driving today. I don’t know if you’ve seen them, but they’re out there. They’re unreasonable and wicked. So it has to be referring to Faith #2. They don’t have the kind of faith where they can speak to things, and those things obey them.

How many of you would like to have Faith #2? If so, what’s that going to take? It takes hearing the word. I was so distraught that day at Sunrise Hospital, and so angered. If there is a demon, or a wicked spirit, or an antichrist spirit around, I get this little cramp in my left shoulder muscle which begins to create an awful headache. Those signs are my “demon sensor”. Several of us have experienced the same thing. We’ve finally isolated it to a sensing of wickedness. It wasn’t there the first day at the hospital. Shoot, I healed the Pediatric Oncology ward. But when I went back the next day, amidst the doubt and unbelief, and actually, antichrist spirits, (meaning rebelling against the word of God and agreeing with the doctors), my demon sensor went off. I was mad, I was not feeling well, and if you had called me, I would not have been the same jovial me as I had been the day before.

I decided to listen to my recent message, and “do things with all might”. I had a partner letter coming out, so I read the partner letter completely, and so forth. The next thing I did was check my E-Mail, but because I did, that meant I had to read it. I couldn’t just read it and delete it, because, after all, I’m doing everything with all might. Anyway, this little poem was on my E-Mail, and I want to read it to you because it has to do with Faith #1 vs. Faith #2.. This is the sequel to the poem, “Footprints”.

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen.
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger’s prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, What have we here?
Those prints are large, and round and near,
But Lord, they are too big for feet.

My Child, He said, in somber tones,
For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused, and made me wait.

You disobeyed, and would not grow.
The walk of faith, you would not know.
So I got tired. I got fed up,
And there I’ve dropped you on your rump.

Because in life there comes a time,
When you must fight and you must climb,
When you must rise and take a stand,
Or leave your butt prints in the sand.

I was totally rejuvenated by that poem, because you can have faith IN God without doing anything. But James must be talking about the Faith OF God when he says, “Faith without works or corresponding action to that faith, is dead”. Faith doesn’t work by itself. The Faith OF God means you have to scrap and fight. You’ve got to drive 17 miles from North Las Vegas to come here and get some faith. But there is coming a day when you’ll need to speak to something, and when you speak to it, there’s going to be some horsepower behind it. That thing is going to move. And that thing is going to obey you.

I got the news yesterday from my wife that a house I spoke into existence is now IN existence. It’s all right when people buy you vans and cars, but when they buy you a house, Hallelujah! That’s all right!

Well, let’s see if I can teach you anything else before we go.

Turn to Mark Chapter 11, verse 20, And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. My cross reference says, could be rendered as, have the Faith OF God. He says the Faith OF God works this way: 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, The reason God had me tell these stories about the money and the hospital, is because your money and your heart are linked. Matthew 6:21 says, Where your treasure is, that where your heart be also. If your money is somewhere else, and not in the Word of God, then your money is going to pull your heart wherever your money is, and you are going to doubt, whether you like it or not. You are going to have full faith in the medical profession, or in whatever or wherever you have your money in.

How about those people who have 15 broken-down cars parted out on their lawns? They just know that car will run one of these days. They’ve got all kinds of faith that it will run because they’ve poured all their money into it. But it’s not the kind of faith they need to make the thing run, because it’s still sitting there.

We’ve got to be cautious about that. If it’s going to come down to your kids, or your parents, or your family members, or me, whatever. I’m going to need you guys to have the Faith OF God. You might need to speak to my body and say, “Get in line”. And it will just get in line. And I’ll say, Thank You.

We’re looking for this kind of faith, because Jesus isn’t coming back to do it. That is exactly why Romans Chapter 10 reads the way it does. It says, Say not, “O Jesus, come down from above.” Or say not, “O Jesus, come up from below.” What does it say? It says, “The word is nigh thee in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith which we preach.”

We’ve got all these people believing in God, and calling on Jesus. Well, Jesus ain’t coming back! I wouldn’t, if I were him. I wouldn’t have come the first time. Jesus answering saith, 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; 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.

The faith OF God says, whosoever can have whatsoever. It doesn’t say, According to God’s will….No, it says, whosoever and whatsoever.

Start practicing. You might say, “I want that Lamborghini Kuntash”. God would say, OK, but give God some credit for adjusting your desires. But don’t be so afraid to have a desire that you don’t say it. Hey, you might want to give it to me! We need to be exercising our faith like a muscle. The Faith OF God is a spiritual muscle. You’ll feed spiritual food taken in: the word of God. You’ll couple faith with action, like the book of James speaks of… corresponding action to the faith, to what you’ve spoken. And you’ll develop this strong muscle that can now lift what the physical can’t. It takes constant exercise and feeding, just like your body does.

Therefore I say unto you, This was the moment in time that Jesus, who obviously had the Faith OF God, imparted the Faith OF God to the disciples. Do you see how subtle it was? He says, Whosoever will say whatsoever, therefore I say it to you. He spoke the Faith OF God to them, so that they would have it, and could use it. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, (them=what you are praying for) and ye shall have them.

What an awesome deal! He imparted the very Faith OF God. In Mark 4, he couldn’t do it because he said, “as they were able to hear it”. They weren’t able to hear it yet. They were still talking about who is going to be at the right hand of God, and all this faith IN God stuff. How big is my mansion in glory going to be? Rapture! Rapture!

I’ll have to apologize if I hurt anybody’s feelings, but wanting to go in the rapture is one of the most selfish things you can do if you’ve laid down your life for the gospel. I mean, are you His, or are you yours? If you don’t believe in a hereafter, then you wouldn’t be so afraid of dying here and getting into the hereafter not to go in a rapture. I don’t know of anyone else I’d rather be on this planet during the tribulation period. I volunteered to stay back in January, a year ago, when I got me off my mind. Because the faith IN God has you on your mind,. The Faith OF God has other people, and their deliverance, on your mind. That is the non-selfish type faith. It’s the faith Jesus used. I said, God, I’m a machine for the gospel. I don’t have to go. I’d love to stay. I could have so much fun here. (I guess that was selfish.) I’m just getting good at using my faith (or using your faith, God.) I don’t want to get out of here now. You could use me. I could be a big help to you. Because you know that when the first bombs start going off, most of the Christians are not going to be of much use to God.

I wrote this down. The old fogies believed IN God. That was the Old Testament faith. Those were the Old Testament saints. But we are the new fogies, and the new fogies have to have the very Faith OF God. We have to exercise this faith, use this faith, and speak to things.

Why didn’t the disciples walk in it? Jump over to Mark Chapter 12, since we’re doing this dossier on the Book of Mark. When Jesus resurrected, he upbraided the disciples. It says after he appeared unto the eleven as they sat unto meat, he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. They went back to fishing, to this and that, and believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. He said unto them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. This gospel. This new gospel of whosoever/whatsoever where you can use the Faith OF God. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved. He that believes not shall be damned. These signs shall follow them that believe in my name: they shall cast out devils. They will obey you now. All of a sudden, the authority is totally transmitted, transmuted, sent over, translated. In my name shall they shall cast out devils. Just like I did. They will speak with new tongues. Just like I did. They shall take up serpents. Just like I did. They will drink any deadly thing and it will not hurt them. Just like I did. They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover. Just like I did.

I want to give you these two little hints. The same things that kept the disciples from walking in the Faith OF God are the same things that will keep you from it as well. The top two reasons are:
Number one: Fear. You are afraid of something, or are protecting something. You are protecting an old habit, or how you were trained. This nursing thing caused all kinds of fear in the baby’s guardian, because all day long, her training could only remind her of the limitations of medical science.

Number two: No studying. Like it said in Romans Chapter 10, I would have fear if I were a medical doctor, and hadn’t gone to medical school. Right? Well, you try to live a life of faith, The just shall LIVE by his faith, says Habakkuk Chapter 2. Well, how are you going to live by faith if you haven’t got any faith within you to live by? No wonder you aren’t living so good! Not only would I have fear as a doctor, how about the fear from the person I’m working on? “I’d like to see your credentials, please”. “Well, I don’t have any. But I was a mechanic for a few years, and….I never had screws, or nuts and bolts left over. They always went right back where they were supposed to go.

Turn to First John Chapter 5. Verse 1, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: You’re all right. You’re believing in God. and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. That includes you and me. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. Millie doesn’t want to go to all those classes, but if she wants to graduate, and get her degree, she’s gotta go. She’s got to take those tests. Just don’t make them grievous. You don’t want to drive all the way over here on Thursday nights, or do all this other stuff, but I’ll tell you what, it’s gonna bless you. Someone was crying out last week because they had a big financial debt come bite them in the butt, and all the while, God raised up our prosperity service for that…that they didn’t attend. The woman in the hospital…same thing. My God, we’re healing machines here. We’ve got a 100% healing rate, a 100% raised from the dead rate. I mean, something can kill them whenever they want after that, but we raise them up. So if God has provided it, don’t make it grievous. Don’t say, Oh, I don’t want to do that.

Why don’t you want to do that? Because you have submitted yourself to all this other stuff that’s hurting you. And you don’t want to deal with one more thing. Well, that one more thing is the thing you should have done.

Let’s read verse 4, For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: That’s not talking about a person. You are not a “what”, you are a “who”. It began with a “who”. Verse 4 is talking about a “what”... Whatsoever is born, birthed, produced of God. Isn’t it the Faith OF God we’re talking about? What you receive by using the Faith OF God is a whatsoever, which also means that whatsoever you want can be birthed out of you by the word of God that dwells in you.

Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.

This is something that the bank creditors can’t repossess from you. This is something that won’t break down when you least expect it. This is something that probably won’t even collect dust!
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. The very Faith OF God.

I think it’s time to stir it up, and use it. This is a tool we use. This isn’t a barrier breaking message, but it is if we’re not utilizing it. Everything is going to start coming in line real fast if we start exercising that spiritual muscle. I’m starting to see stuff come so fast, I’m almost down to five minutes before they do. I want to get stuff going real fast. I want to be able to speak to things, and say, I call you…. and see if God just does it before I say it. I want to move my faith up faster. I’m aiming for instant. All things are possible for him that believeth.

Let’s close in prayer.
Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, the first thing I think we need to do is just cast all our care of things that aren’t working. Cast all our care of the things we are in, and the things that our friends are in. We cast all the care over on you, not because we don’t want to care about it, but because our care won’t do anything about it. So we cast it on you, knowing that you, God, can fix it.

We thank God for the Faith OF God; the very faith that was imparted to us, the very Faith OF God that we can use to speak to things, and have them obey us: wind, sea, storms, demons, cars, houses, trucks, brethren, people. We will dedicate ourselves to going to the school of faith. We will study and build our faith. We will exercise it. We will be faithful over that gift you have given us. And we know, too, God, that you will be faithful to turn up the power as we continue to add works and corresponding action to our faith.

God, we thank you for it. I call us safe today, that everything we touch today will prosper, that everywhere we go, we will have complete authority. I speak it forth by the very Faith OF God today. I speak forth every body well today in the name of Jesus. I speak every family member well and healed and in favor with us today. I speak forth that our bosses come to their senses; that anyone who is over us in authority, in work or in any other avenue, that we will have the favor of God with them like Joseph had with Pharoah. We will not be lazy with it, and we’ll walk in exactly where we expect to be. I thank you God, and we call it done. In Jesus name….Amen.