Creflo Dollar - Understanding the Trials of Faith - Part 3
Hebrews 11, verse 4, he says, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, and God testified of his gift: and by it he being dead yet speaketh". Now, you understand his righteousness came from what he did, our righteousness was based on what Jesus has done, all right? Next, verse 5, "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". He did something to please God.
Verse 6, "But without faith it's impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him". Verse 7 and 8 and 9 he says, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of the things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house". Verse 8, "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". Verse 9, "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country".
Verse 11 he says, "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of the child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had the promise". Verse 20, "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come". Verse 21, "By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshiped, leaning upon the top of the staff". Verse 22, and you see this over and over, "By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel". Verse 23, "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child".
Verse 30, Hebrews 11:30, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down". 31, "By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, and Jephthae, and David, and Samuel, and the prophets". And verse 33, "Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of the lions". Verse 34, "Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness," so we see all these things happening. Verse 35, "Women received their dead raised to life again; and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection". Verse 39 and verse 40, "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise".
They obtained, every one of these, these are all Old Testament believers who died and obtained a good report, but they never got the promise. "God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made complete," or perfect. All right, now, we can't ignore this. I mean, it's exciting to read through Hebrews 11 and see the good reports of all of the Old Testament saints as they believed and trusted God, and yet he said for us there is something better. So you have a choice to emulate and look at the people of the Old Testament and say, "I'm going to have this kind of faith," or to get involved in the discovery of the better.
How many of you want the better? I mean, look at these great things that happened, look at the great reports that were given of all of these Old Testament saints, and he said but they did not... look at verse 39. Even though they all died having a good report, they also died not having the promise. They all had a good report, verse 39, they all had a good report, but they all died without the promise. "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise". They got a good report, but they still didn't get the promise. Now, what's that promise? All throughout the Old Testament it was the promise of a Savior that would come, a promise of a Jesus that would come, glory be to God. And even though they did great things, they didn't get the promise. Old Testament believers had faith and trusted God, but there's something better when you get the promise.
Somebody say, "I got the promise". And the Bible says, "That they without us should not be made perfect". Now, it didn't even dawned on me, you know, getting saved, going to church and I'm like, "Well, you know, everything's the same. Why are you making this big deal over this stuff"? Go to Hebrews chapter 2 and 4. I'm going to say something very radical now. In the King James Bible, you see the word faith only two times, Deuteronomy chapter 32, I believe, verse 20, and Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse 4. And they translated it faith, but that wasn't a correct translation.
In the New American Standard Bible you see the word faith five times, but there's a better translation than faith. The actual translation from the original Hebrew text, it should have been translated faithful, trust, fidelity, or confidence. It should have been translated in Habakkuk 2 and 4 he says that the just shall live by his faith. A better translation was the just shall live by his trust, the just shall live by his faithfulness, his fidelity. The just shall live by his confidence in God because Old Testament Christians had trust. They trusted and they believed God, but they didn't have the promise. So it was their faith and trust. It was their faith and their trust in God, glory be to God. It was their faith and their trust in God. "I trust God for this. I trust God for that".
And that's great and that's awesome, but there's a difference between the Old Testament believers and the New Testament Christian, where they said, "I trust God. I have trust in him. I have confidence in him. I have faith in him". In the New Testament we're not trusting out of our trust to see what God's going to do... let me slow up a little bit. Let me show you this. Go to Habakkuk chapter 2:4. I think some of you know where I'm going. "Well, you're talking about just what you were talking about last week". Not exactly. I understood some more. After I left here, I immediately got some more stuff I said, "Lord, have mercy, I didn't see that". He said, "Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him; but the just shall live by," what? His faith, or his trust, or his confidence. Glory be to God. His fidelity.
In the Old Testament, Old Testament saints or Old Testament believers lived by their trust. They lived by their faithfulness, their confidence. And their faithfulness was rewarded, their trust was rewarded because they had not yet seen the promise, they had not received Jesus yet. They had not received Jesus and his finished works yet. Hadn't happened. All right, let's go on. Let's travel a little bit more. Romans 1:17. You see, we have to stop and we got to teach so we can change your mind 'cause we just going around being religious even by the wrong stuff, and there's a reason why things are not working like they're supposed to work. We're ignoring the promise, which they... they really were trusting that the promise was going to happen. All their lives heard about a Savior and a redeemer that was going to come, but they knew that they wouldn't be the ones to receive it. But we have and some of us trying to go back to what they were doing instead of recognize that we got something better.
You keep going back talking about what Moses did and what Joshua did and what Enoch did, and you got something better than what... let me calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Romans 1:17. Romans 1:17. You got something better. Look at this. "For therein is the righteousness of God," the righteousness that comes of God, "revealed from faith to faith, as it's written," he says, "the just," those who've been declared righteous, "shall live by faith". Now go to Galatians chapter 3 and 11, Galatians chapter 3 and 11. This is concerning how we should live. Galatians 3 and 11, "But that no man is justified," or declared righteous. No man is justified or declared righteous by the law. The law doesn't declare anybody righteous, the law declares everybody's sinned and sinful, okay? The law is like a spirit, it's like medical dye. It doesn't change or redeem anybody, it just shows you what's wrong with you.
Medical dye is not a cure for anything. It just shows you what's going on in your body. "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident; for the just shall live by," what? By faith. Two times you see the just shall live by faith. In Habakkuk you saw the just shall live by his faith. Here he says the just shall live by faith. We got to figure out what's the difference here. Go to Hebrews 10:38, Hebrews 10:38. Verse 38, "Now the just shall live by," what? "Faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him". Now I know what that means. I never did get this one. He says, "Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man goes back to his faith and his trust and trying to be faithful, ignoring that he has the promise, my soul shall have no pleasure in him," you got that?
All right, now Galatians 2:20. Now, he's talking about the faith today, what does the faith look like for New Testament Christians today. All right, now you... read this with me now. Ready? It's on the screens. Read. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me". Oh, glory. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. The first time ever that humanity united with divinity. It ain't never happened in the Old Testament where human beings united with God being and oneness was created between you and Christ. And he is allowed to express himself through you and you express him through you and now you have something that's never existed before. God coming into man and creating a new creation that has never been seen before, that didn't happen in the Old Testament believers.
Old Testament believers had the miracles happen on the outside, but they never had this miracle to happen on the inside where God stepped inside of a man, changed him and gave him a new creation, glory to God. And God and man speak to a mountain and that mountain be removed. Oh my goodness. I apologize. I should not have got excited right there, but you don't find that nowhere in the New Testament. Ain't no God, everything that happen with Old Testament believers happen on the outside of a man and around a man, but it never happened through a man. The anointing got on a man, but the anointing moved inside of a man in the New Testament. Are you hearing this? "Yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live" that Christ now moved in me, "The life that I now live in this flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me".
So the New Testament saints, we are not living by our faith and our trust in God. We now have something better. We are now living by our faith in the Son of God. We're living by his faith. We live by the faith of the Son of God. You know, somebody say, "What does that mean"? We live by every finished work that Jesus got with his faith. We live by the faith of the son of God. By his faith I am healed. By his faith I am delivered. By his faith I'm set free. By his faith I'm born again. By his faith I'm a son of God. It's all about his faith. And now I got faith in his faith, I'm not living by my faith no more, I... listen. Somebody says, "Well, I don't trust it". Well, it's still available because his faith has brought into us. I have faith in everything he finished. I have faith in everything he worked. By his faith I've been made righteous. By his faith I've been redeemed. By his faith I am healed. By his faith I am delivered.
And anytime you have problems with believing what his faith has done, ask yourself, do you believe that Jesus believes it? Yes. Well, I can rest because I ain't, listen, I ain't got to be sweating trying to believe something. All I got to do is believe that Jesus believes it and it is so. Do I believe that Jesus believes that I'm righteous? Yes. Do I believe that Jesus believes that I'm redeemed? Yes. Do I believe that Jesus believes that I'm prosperous? Yes. Do I believe that Jesus believes that I'm forgiven? Yes. Do I believe that Jesus believes that I'm anointed? Yes, yes, yes. All right, now think with me for a moment. Doesn't that take all the pressure off your shoulder? It's not by my faith that I'm having to do all of this stuff to try to get God to do it. His faith has already gotten it. My faith and his faith causes me to receive it.
What's the difference now? My faith is in Jesus. Old Testament faith is in themselves, their confidence and their trust that they have in God to do something versus my confidence and my trust in what Jesus has already done. So what happens when you finally enter into that place where you say, "I believe that Jesus believes I'm righteous, therefore I'm righteous"? You know what you're... you know where you are now? You're now at rest. The highest kind of faith is rest. Rest becomes the authentication of your belief. "How do you know you believe what Jesus believed"? "Look at me. Do you see.. am I worried? Am I tripping out? No, I'm not worried. No, no".
Somebody says, "Well, you know, you got this. You're going to die". "Well, now Jesus believes that I'm healed, and I believe what Jesus believes, and therefore I'm healed. Later". My whole faith life is now I live by the faith of Jesus Christ. I have faith in the faith of Jesus Christ. You don't under... here's what happen to a lot of Christians. When you have faith in your faith and you don't see Jesus nowhere, it's like why do you frustrate the grace of God and go back to relying on yourself instead of relying on Jesus. When you rely on Jesus, it's already done. When you rely on yourself, you're trying to manufacture it. My faith is in his finished works, it's done. The New Testament Christians should be walking around chilling, and instead you're walking around sweating.
Greatest day of my life is when I realized that when I thought I was struggling, believing that this can happen, that I went and checked Jesus out and I saw he already believes that this has happened to the point where he's made it available. Don't let me find a scripture where it's already done because I now in the New Testament rest in the faith of Jesus and in what Jesus has already done. Catch yourself the next time you find yourself sweating trying to get something to happen. Catch yourself the next time where you got five steps, trying to make these five steps work. Catch it the next time you time your prayer and say, "If I can pray for two hours, at least God got to do something".
God done already done whatever you think he got to do, but now you're going back and forth with having faith in your faith instead of having faith in the finished works of Jesus Christ. We live by the faith of Jesus Christ. Does that make sense? They could not live by the faith of Jesus Christ because there was no manifestation of Jesus Christ. Jesus had not yet died yet. He had not yet shed his blood yet. He had not yet finished nothing. What do you think he said when he got on the cross and he says, "It is finished"? What do you think he was talking about, life is over? No, he says, "I came here to do a job. Healing is finished. Deliverance is finished. You being made righteous is finished. It is finished. It is finished. It is finished". And we rise up when he says, "It is finished," and we say, "We're working on it". He says, "It's finished".