Creflo Dollar - How to Take Possession Through Grace - Part 4
Romans 4:16. Now watch this. So how do we appropriate it? How do we take possession of all of this abounding provision that is a part of his unrestricted operation of love? How do we get it? Now, I shared this with you last week. Let's go. He says, "Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace". It is of faith that it might be by grace. Now look at this in the NLT. So he says if you're going to get what grace has made available, you're going to have to get it with your what? Your faith. All right. Now, we traditionalized that for so long that... stay with me here. He says, "So the promise is received by", how? By what? By faith. And then it's given as a what? A free gift.
Now the perfect illustration is in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9. Go there. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9. So we appropriate. We take possession of what grace has made with our faith. Grace makes everything that pertains to life, that's Jesus, but faith takes everything that grace has made. All the provisions that grace has provided increasingly, our faith takes hold of it. Verse 8 says, go to King James, go to NLT first, you know, after this King James. He says, "For by grace are you," what? You're saved by grace, but you got it through what? Okay, so grace made salvation available, right, but in order for you to see it in your life you had to get it through faith. "It's not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast".
So this applies to everything. For by grace are you saved is salvation. That word used here is a amazing Greek word because it encompasses your deliverance, your healing, your prosperity. All of that is within that word salvation, soteria. Okay? Sozo is another Greek word here. He says by faith you're saved, by faith you get it, by faith you appropriate it, by faith you take possession of it; but grace has provided salvation, grace has provided healing, grace has already provided redemption, grace has already provided righteousness. So most of the stuff you spend your time praying for, grace has already provided it. You're working real hard to try to get something that has already been gotten. Jesus took care of that. Jesus died to obtain the victory. Our job is to maintain it.
So whatever pertains... now see, what we've been doing is using our faith to try to fulfill our dreams. "Well, let me use my faith to get the car. Let me use my faith to do that". And all that's fine, but I need to simplify some stuff for you. Grace makes, faith takes, but all of this is an operation of his unrestricted love. Everything you can think of and put a name to is a part of the operation of his unrestricted love. All right, now watch this. Go to Galatians chapter 5 and verse 6, Galatians 5 and 6. I feel like if you didn't get anything, you got to get this, man, 'cause you're going to start walking in the fulfillment of this. He said, "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision".
So basically back then it was like you're not a part of the covenant if you're not circumcised. If you're uncircumcised, you're not a part of the covenant. You have to be circumcised in order to be a part of the covenant, and that was the conversation here. "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision". We're talking about in Jesus Christ, but in Jesus Christ, who is grace, faith works by love. So grace makes, faith takes, but faith is not going to work without love. Here's the key. See, we went on with faith, but we left love, all right? Faith worketh by love.
Now go to 1 John. And rather than me saying this, I want you to see it. 1 John 4, verse 10 and then 18 and 19; 1 John 4, verse 10 and then 18 and 19. Now watch this. "Herein is love, not that we loved God," so he's not talking about us loving God, "but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a propitiation," or a ransom or a sin offering, all right, "for our sins". So it's not how much we love God that faith works by, it is how much we believe God loves us. Faith will work by how much you believe God loves you. Look at verse 18 and 19. "There is no fear in love". All right, check this out. "There is no fear in love". Now he explained already. He's talking about the love that you believe that God has for you. "There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear".
So here is the deal. Perfect love is, "I am convinced that God loves me". You know what fear is? Ultimately fear is not believing what God promised will come to pass for you. Ultimate fear is not believing that what God promised will come to pass for you. "By the stripes of Jesus you're healed". Fear is, "I don't believe that's true. I don't believe that's going to come to pass". "I will supply your needs according to his riches and glory". Fear is, "I don't believe that's going to come to pass. I don't believe that's going to happen". You automatically know that you have a love issue here. You don't believe that God loves you, and when you don't believe God loves you fear comes in and infects your faith. Fear that is tolerated is faith that is contaminated because you don't believe God loves you.
So could it be that we're walking around with contaminated faith because we don't believe in the love that God has for us because we keep coming up with all of these excuses of why we don't believe God loves us? I believe God loves me. Say it. "I believe God loves me". So when you're in trouble, the first thing you need to go to is, "I believe God loves me". The first place. And really to be honest with you this is really strong, but I'm going to say it and you guys have to work it out. First base, faith in the love of God. First base, faith in the love of God. If you put faith in the love of God, all these other things are going to be taken care of. "I have faith in the love of God". Somebody says, "Well, I have faith I'm going to get a job". That's what I just said. "I have faith in the love of God". "Oh, no, I have faith that I'm going to get a raise". That's what I just said. "I have faith in the love of God". "No, I have faith I'm going to be healed". That's what I just said. Are y'all following me now? "I have faith that my family is going to be restored. I have faith in the love of God".
See, when you have faith in the love of God, you got to know that when you believe God loves you, then God's going to take care of everything that concerns you. But formula, formula. That's out of the Word. Yeah. We have formalized our faith life, and we've taken it and we've made it into a formula to apply with all of the stuff we're trying to get to happen and our heart's not in believing that he loves me. Doctor said you got cancer. You say, "I believe God loves me". You know what you just said? "I'm going to be all right". "Oh, they're going to put me out the house. Oh, but I believe God loves me. Yes, God loves me". What you just said, "There's no way they're going to put me out my house. I believe God loves me".
Now, we've also done something in church where we start rehearsing stuff with our mouth that has not yet settled in our heart. We just run our mouth. And that's not bad because eventually maybe if you talked enough you might start believing what you're saying, but it's got to get here. Somebody says, "How do I know, if what I just said about the love of God, how do I know that it's authentic"? When you really believe that God loves you, you know what you're going to be, you know what position you're going to be in. You're going to be in a position of rest. Not worry, rest. You will look weird to other people because they won't be able to figure out why are you not worried and stressed out, and you're going to say, "'Cause I believe God loves me". "Yeah, but you should be worried". "No, no, no. I cast all that out on him because he loves me enough he don't even want me worrying about it. He say, 'I got it.'" This is what we got to get as Christian people. You can tell when something's authentic. You're at rest. You're at rest. "I believe God loves me".
Now, if you're not at rest, you need to go ahead and ask yourself what is it that's hindering you from believing the love that God has for you 'cause that's where the doubt's going to come from, that's where, "You know, I don't know if this grace stuff working. I believe in it. I said it 12 times". Yeah, but you ain't believing not now 12 times. Why? 'Cause there's no rest, and where there's no rest there's unbelief, where there's no rest there's unbelief. It's time for some of you to rest. Why? 'Cause God's loved you, and some of you may have to take a flashback and look at everything that God has done for you all the way up until this time right now. See, that's the power of testimony. Testimony can even convince you, "Oh, he obviously he loves me. Look at what he did here. Look at what he did there. Look at how he did that. Look at what about.. God loves me".
And then you chill. You just back up and like, "I'm not doing this, and I'm not going to talk to somebody that's going to keep talking to me about stressing me out over something that I'm already at rest in". You got to know how to build boundaries around things that are trying to get in you and mess up your process. You're working on something. And sometimes you need to tell folks, "Not now, baby. I'm working on something. I'm at rest right now and you're trying to pull me out my rest. I'm not worried about that". "Well, I just wanted to tell you what they said". "I don't want to know who they is and I don't know what nobody said 'cause I'm focused on how much God loves me". Are y'all following what I'm saying? That happens all the time.
I'm asking the Lord, "Please help me to take this complicated, hermeneutical, theological issue on grace and break it down to practically see what we got to do every day". And that's where my focus is right now. God loves me. "Well, I don't know about that, Brother Dollar. Look like that cancer back". "Nah, God loves me. I'm good". "Did you hear what I said"? "Yeah, I heard you. God heard you, too. I'm good. I was good before you said that. I just want you to know". Go by the gas station and get you a blow pop and chill. Whenever you can see peaceful people, it's a beautiful picture. Peaceful people and you know they right in the middle of hell. There are people in here right now, they look all peaceful and you have no idea what they left this morning to come here to church. You have no idea.
A woman left her husband who been beating her up for the last 2 years, and she coming up here praising the Lord and, "Hallelujah. Hi, how are you doing, and what can I do for you"? That comes by grace. Grace has provided that for her because she just believes, "God loves me". "Well, I believe God love me, but". Now, get your but out the way 'cause you about to mess up. You either believe God loves you or you're operating in fear, and that's the focus. You see what I'm saying? We've been focusing on all these other little things, you know, this chapter, and that chapter, and let's see how to get the car, let's see how to get this, let's see how to get that, let's see how to do this, and life has become about let's see how we can take Bible principles and use it to satisfy our lust and not use it to appreciate what Jesus has already done for us. And we don't love him. We love what he can do for us.
"What can he do for me? I'll get saved. Tell me what he can do for me". I met some people. I says, "Listen. All I know is he's good, and he going to be good to you not 'cause you're good, because he's good. And he's already done so much for you. Take him". "Well, what he going to do? He going to make me rich"? Listen, brah, you need to learn. He said, "Take my yoke upon me and learn of me". And he says, "You'll finally get to the point where you'll find out that my yoke is easy and my burdens are light". We've gotten tied up into this mammon system, where we start trusting money more than we trust God. Having money doesn't mean you're in mammon. That's what some people mess up with you. "Well, you have mammon". No, no, no, no, I don't trust no money. And if you could see my giving, you will know I don't trust no money 'cause you can't give away that me and Taffi give and trust money.
"Well, how much you give"? Ain't none of your business. I got, 'cause it's a part of them business. Why are you in it? Do you believe he loves you? I know I'm being repetitive, but this is the one thing I've been able to locate that is constant. Over 41 years, it's the same thing. People say these little churchy things and they don't resolve to the very issue. We're right in the middle of it now. "I believe God loves me". And God says, "You have my unrestricted operation of my love, and my provisions will abound". And people don't get that. They're waiting to shout. They're waiting to scream. They're waiting on something nice. And I'm telling you, listen, all these years and to find a bed rock like this, don't take that for granted.
Don't take that for granted. That people been saved all their life have never heard what you're hearing right now. Put your faith... let me say it like this. Your faith should rest in the love of God. Your faith should rest in the love of God. It's been working for me. I don't know, I can't even explain, with all my understanding of health and fitness and the reports I have access to on a monthly basis I can't even explain to you by one way what's going on with my physical body. I'm like, "God, no, what is this"? On one report I went from 90% risk with my eyes. "Well, what's wrong with you"? Ain't none of your business. With 90% risk. Just give you enough to understand the testimony. Ain't got to get all there, you know. With my eyes to go down to 0%. Wait. Wait. And all the doctor could say was, "Mm". I said, "Mm-hmm".
All I know is when this thing hit my spirit, your rest must no longer rest in all of the things that are wrong with you or going on with you. Faith shouldn't just be pulled out when trouble comes. Faith should rest in the love of God. And as I began practicing that, stuff been going on. I'm like, "Oh". Let's go get this checked out. Do a blood panel. Come, I'm like, "Whoa". And I want to give some credit to the supplements and to the protocols. I can't 'cause I've been doing that for so long and they never did this, but when I made my mind up to declare that my faith rest in the love of God, stuff started shifting, stuff started happening. I'm sure you noticed it when I got back. My hair just all of a sudden just started falling out, but God loves me.
Now is coming back in. You know, I was ready. I was just going to go on shave it off, slap some little Vaseline up in there, and come out here, "Let it shine. Let it shine". Oh, but God loves me. My faith rests in the unrestricted operation of God's love. That's where my faith is. My faith rests in the unrestricted operation of his love. That's where my faith is. And I don't need trial or trouble in order to release my faith. I don't need to have to have that in order to release my faith. I just keep it right there RET. Keep it right there resting in the unrestricted love of God. Are y'all hearing me?
You know, I was supposed to be finished with this series like a month ago, but we're in no rush. I don't know when Jesus coming back. It might be tomorrow. It might be tonight. Oh, thank you, Jesus. It might be 10 years from now. I don't know, and don't nobody know. If anybody tell you Jesus coming back tomorrow, they wrong 'cause the Bible says no man knows the day or the hour. So if they say he coming back tomorrow, then you know he ain't coming back tomorrow. I don't understand why people do that.
"The Lord spoke to me and said that Jesus will be back here July the 2nd". No. That ain't going to happen. Aren't you just tired of the games in church? And it's almost like there's propaganda in church. I like to teach what I've experienced so I know I got that right recipe for that chocolate cake. And I'm telling you something changed so quickly when I assigned my faith to rest in the unrestricted, infinite love that God has for me, and I believe it. So what happens? Love now requires provisions to be met in any area of my life, and faith that worketh by how much I believe God loves me might as well just rest there. My faith rests there.