Creflo Dollar - How To Deal With Unbelief - Part 2
Matthew 7 and 12, let's read it in the NLT. You're gonna either live by the law of Moses that is administered by rule keeping... In other words, he gives you 603 rules to try to get the benefit of morality from the Ten Commandments. He says, "All right, if you're gonna do this, if you're gonna, thou shall not kill, you gotta do these 20 things to see if you can achieve that". It failed miserably. But then we come to the New Testament, and remember the Ten Commandments, that's God, that's God's character; it is holy, it is flawless, it is perfect. And so the New Testament shows up, and he says, "All right, I'm gonna give you the Holy Ghost, and all of the morality that could not be achieved under the carnal law based on performance is now gonna be able to be achieved through the administration of the Holy Spirit".
And look what he said in verse 12, "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. In doing so, this is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets". You know what did just said? He said, "I can tell you how to get a hold of everything that was taught in the law and the prophets. Treat other people like you wanna be treated". Say what? I'm gonna show you how powerful that is. Because then the Holy Ghost starts working, and, in order to treat people like you've been treated, you're gonna have to deal with the hurt and still treat them the way they ought to be treated anyway. You're gonna have to deal with the fear of rejection and still treat them like they ought to be treated anyway. Look at the Holy Ghost working on you.
See, you're growing up when you can turn around and speak to somebody that won't speak to you, and, when they didn't speak to you, it hurt you, but you still spoke with them; you still spoke to them anyway. Because, what you're doing, that's an expression of the grace of God. You realize that God showed me grace when I didn't deserve it; I'm gonna show somebody else grace, glory to God. And, in doing that, I show you the whole essence of what the law and the prophets were all about. But we're more content at pulling a rule out and using it to try to convict somebody, try to play the Holy Ghost. And he says, "No, you don't have to play me. You can't be me". What you do is say, "All right, I'm gonna treat this person the way I want to be treated. And, if they hurt me, I'm gonna still treat them the way I wanna be treated. Because, if I hurt somebody, I still would want somebody..."
Look at what happens to your life as a Christian; you're gonna start growing now because now selfishness is not determining your actions. You made your mind up, "I am going to live by the essence of what was taught in the law and the prophets. I'm not gonna live by a law that's administered by rule keeping. I'm gonna live by the essence of the law that's administered by the Holy Spirit and the love of God. And, because I love him and because he gave me grace, I can show grace to you. Even though you don't deserve me showing grace to you, I'm gonna show grace to you". And, in doing that, the Holy Spirit starts changing stuff on the inside of you and raising you up as a holy Christian so that your state will match your stance, and you start growing and growing and growing.
But you can't do that being determined to take three or four laws and use it to condemn somebody to make you feel better about your sin. Because it makes you feel more Christian because, "You know, I don't drink". That's legalism. You're like the Pharisee; I tithe, I pray twice a day, I do this and I do that. And Jesus said that this tax collector is going to heaven before that Pharisee who's busy in his legalism, but his heart is far from him. I want my heart to be towards God. I want my my heart to be with God. I don't want to be going around trying to quote law to you. I trust the Holy Ghost to straighten you up. Cuss me out, I trust the Holy Ghost to help you, and he'll help me not to cuss you back. I trust the Holy Ghost. But the disbelief is because we were taught wrong; we don't know how to live.
So we make it extremely difficult for everybody because of our own disbelief, and we point fingers, and we play the Holy Ghost police, and we do all of these things, and the thing he said that I want you to do, "Do to others the way you want them to do to you". This is the essence of the law and what they prophesized. It's the sum of the law and what they prophesized. And the New King James says this is what was prophesized. Look at verse 16, Luke 16:16, Matthew 11:13. This is why I keep showing you this, but your disbelief fights this because you have been taught in the law, you have been raised up in the law, and so, when the truth come and the evidence, it's like, if you just know how to read, you'll see this. But the disbelief is fighting you.
Verse 16 and 16, "The law and the prophets..." The prophets are all the things that came through the prophets. The law, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, those next two books, and Genesis was more of something a little different because it was laying out the genealogy of what was going on. He said, "The law and the prophets were until John," the Baptist, "and since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it". Says so, "The law and the prophets lasted until John," the Baptist. Why? John went to prison, and Jesus showed up.
Matthew chapter 11, Matthew chapter 11 and verse 13, "For all the prophets and the law, it was done until John". That means there was a expiration for living that way. And what happens is, however you were taught in this area, is so strong in you; it's a stronghold in you that you won't let it go. And the Bible says in Genesis, Galatians chapter 4, it took two women, and these two women represented the two covenants, the covenant of the law and the covenant of grace. Ahab, which represents the covenant of the law, and Sarah, which represented the covenant of grace. And here's what they said. They said that, under the covenant of law, Hagar, under the covenant of law, she had Ishmael through self effort of her and Abraham getting together while he was still able to produce a seed.
But Sarah and Abraham, when they got together, everything had shut down, old, 90-something years old, 100 year old, they had to depend on God to produce an Isaac. So he said, those of us who are born again, we should be children of Sarah or children of the supernatural. But instead we're satisfied with being children of Hagar, children of self effort. And most, the church, they're still children of self effort. And Galatians says we should be children of the supernatural. But then he goes and he warns us, and this is why I'm pretty content with it. He said, as Ishmael persecuted Isaac, so, today, those who desire others to live by the law purchase those who live by the covenant of grace. And he said, that ain't gonna stop.
People get mad when you hear preaching like this because they see themselves as children of Hagar. But I'm telling you, if you make Jesus the Lord of your life, you're not children of Hagar, you're not children of self effort, you're children of Sarah, you're children of the supernatural, praise God, you're children of the Holy Ghost. Okay, enough of that because that, now you get a chance to see what I'm saying. For some of you who are sitting there like, "Mm, okay, I don't care what you say, I'm gonna still live by the law". Praise to God. Thou shall not steal, thou shall not commit adultery, thou shall not have sex, and you're doing all of them. See, what you wanna do, you wanna do all of them, then come over here and get some grace.
All right, let's get to the third one. You'll see what I mean. So, if you're feeling uncomfortable, "I ain't never heard this before". All I'm doing is reading this morning. I'm reading. You can't make it say nothing but what it is. "So, okay, so, why you hollering, calm down". All right, let's look at the third one. Natural unbelief; this is big, natural unbelief. Now, again, what is that? Being moved by your senses more than by what you believe. It's when you're moved by your senses, you're being moved by what you can see than what you believe. Natural unbelief, being moved more about what you can see than what you believe.
This is amazing here, Mark chapter 9:18, there's a story about these disciples, and a man brought his son to cast the demon out of him because it was really hurting him, and they couldn't do it. And one of the reasons they couldn't do it because they were sitting there looking at this boy do all this stuff. Follow me carefully now, "And wheresoever he taketh him," talking about this boy, the dad, "he teareth him and he foameth, and he gnashes with his teeth; he pineth away, and then I spake to your disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not". What? Because it's, they're sitting there looking at this boy doing this stuff.
All right now, let's go to Matthews 17, verse 14 through 21, ooh, we going somewhere. Matthew 17, verse 14:21... excuse me, I'm so excited, Matthew 17, verses 14 through 21. All right, now watch this, "And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, saying, 'Lord, have mercy on my son, for he's a lunatic, and sore vexed; oftentimes he falleth into the fire, oftentime into the water.'" He's demon controlled. "'And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.'"
Alright, now I got a problem with this. What do you mean? Why could they not cure him? They had the ability to do it. Hold your place there. Look at Matthew 10 and then Mark 6:13, Matthew 10 and 1 and Mark 6:13, "They couldn't cure..." This is the second time we see... They couldn't, what do you mean, they couldn't? Look at verse 1, "And when he had called unto him, his 12 disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease". So it's not like they didn't have the power to do it, but yet they couldn't. All right, go to Mark, go to Mark because, have they ever done it before? Is it, was this like new, the first time?
Mark 6 and 13, "And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and they healed them". What's up? I don't know, I don't get it, I'm lost. They got power to do it, Jesus gave it to them. They've done it many other times. Why were they not able to do it this time? And you can look at your life, what is it about your life, when you pray, and you got the answer, and you did this and it worked. Then you saw, what happened, it's not like you hadn't done it before. It's not like you don't have the power, huh? Y'all ready for this? Go back to Matthew 17, he said, "I brought them, brought him out to your disciples, and they could not cure him," when they have, they had, the power to do it.
"Then Jesus answered and said, 'O, faithless and perverse generation, How long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring the boy here.' And Jesus rebuked the devil". And they had the same power to do it, and you do too. "And he departed out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour". I'm telling you what, we getting ready to go, I ain't gonna be at the house, I ain't gonna be at the hospital, but you guys will. And, man, after you hear this today, you ain't gonna sit there and tolerate what somebody'll tell you. Hallelujah, you gonna lay hands on the sick, you gonna cast out devils, you gonna do it because he gave me the power. Y'all better get ready, world changers. We getting ready to change some world; we getting ready to make a mark that ain't never be erased, and it ain't 'cause you gotta call me at 3 o'clock in the morning, "Pastor, can you come pray"?
You got the same power, the same Holy Ghost, the same promise. Then came the disciples to Jesus after Jesus had did it. Then they waited until they, they kinda chilled out, got away from everybody. "Jesus, psst, let us, we want, we need knowledge for a minute, come on". And they said, "Why could not we cast him out"? I really thought Jesus was gonna respond and say, "I don't know, you had the power, and you've done it before. Tell me". But now he's teaching them something we need to get. "And Jesus said unto them..." Listen, he, you remember the question, right? How come we didn't cast him out? What was the answer? Because of your unbelief.
Now, question, what is the subject now? Get your English now, you you got a colon there, so that we're still gonna be maintaining unbelief as the issue. "Because of your unbelief," he said, "for verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you". What he said was, "I don't know why," he said, he says, "I don't know why y'all had an issue because all you need is a mustard seed faith. But it looked like y'all had too much unbelief". Now watch this, watch this; then he said, "Howbeit, then, howbeit, this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting". Question, what was he referring to when he said this kind? He was referring to unbelief because that was the subject. What has the church declared that he was referring to? The demon.
So we spent time in fantasy saying we got to go fast and pray so we can deal with the devil, and you don't need to fast and pray to deal with the devil because he gave you power to deal with the devil. He said, "What you need to fast and pray about is the unbelief," praise God, "It's the unbelief that's counteracting your faith. It's the unbelief that's stopping you from doing what I said you could do. It's the unbelief". It's the unbelief. You can have faith and unbelief at the same time. Back up, look what this guy said; the guy said, "Lord," his father said, Lord, "I believe, but help my unbelief". And notice Jesus didn't rebuke him for saying that because sometimes you have faith and unbelief at the same time. The problem is you have so much more unbelief than you do faith.
So go on a fast and pray until you drive that unbelief out of your thinking. Go on a fast and pray until you drive that unbelief out of your Spirit. Go and fast and pray until you don't see nothing but what God promised, and it shall be done, and it shall be done, and it shall be done. He didn't say something was wrong with your faith. He said you had too much unbelief. And look at where we are tonight. We get a daily dose of unbelief from the news, from the people, from people, from doctors, from everybody. We just feed ourselves unbelief that we got so much unbelief in us, and then we see the Word. "Well, you know, I ain't talking about that right now. I'm talking about something real. I need some money right now". Always talking about, you need some money right now, but you don't believe that you can trust God with your seed. And so you refuse to sow because you don't trust God. So, he sent us a helper. How do you know we're gonna need some help? Thank God for fasting and praying. But where does the Holy Ghost come in?
Go to Saint John 16 and 8. Hey, ah, well, that devil, he ain't got a shot; if you just, if you do, man, if y'all walk out of here today, I almost feel sorry for the devil this week. Because now that you know that you know, and something happened, you say, "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, not today. Not now, devil, you done mess with the wrong person. I'm called for. You done mess with the wrong person today. I know what you're trying to do, but I'm not moved by what I see. I'm not moved by what I hear. I'm not moved by the reports of the doctor. I'm not moved by how much money I got in my bank. I trust God almighty. Don't make me go on a fasting and a praying time. Don't make me miss breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Don't make me go in my closet. You don't want to mess with me today".