Sermon Part 6: "Your Universe Is In This Verse!"
Introduction
Praise the Lord Saints, we are nearing the end of this Sermon Series, but also going far deeper into the Word of God. For our part in bringing the people of America back to God, it is vitally important that every born-again Christian be equipped with this profound truth, captured in four words spoken by Jesus Christ to His disciples: "HAVE FAITH IN GOD." (Mark 11:22) As born-again Christians, we must learn to move and grow from having “faith in God,” to living by “God’s faith,” so we can hold the galaxies of the universe—the cosmos—in our hands.
The Story of the Cursed Fig Tree Reveals the True Authority of the Believer in Jesus Christ.
In Christian Circles, most of us are familiar with the story recorded in Mark Chapter 11:12-14, 20-26, in which Jesus Christ cursed a fig tree. Let's take time to read the account.
12. And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:
13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it.
20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
21 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
My, my, my what a wonder it must have been for Peter and the disciples to have witnessed a fully mature fig tree, which in Bible times could grow to about 20-feet in height with large leaves, dried-up from the roots dead the next day after Jesus cursed it. When Peter called Jesus' attention to the tree, in effect, he was asking the Lord how He had done this. Jesus replied with four simple words: "Have Faith in God."
Next week, in our final Sermon of this Series, I will provide you with a primer on the fundamentals of “Living by God’s Faith.” But today, I solely want to focus on a deeper truth Jesus was revealing to His disciples when He instructed them to “Have Faith in God.” I believe if we get a fuller understanding of this truth, our confidence in God working through us to do miracles will increase exponentially, and manifold people in the midst of crises in America, and around the world, will receive breakthrough and victory. The body of Christ, must come to expect to see and do exceedingly more miracles than Jesus Christ did in His public ministry, as well as those performed in the era of the early Church of Jesus Christ. (John 14:12) If we only have faith in God we will obtain the promise of the performance of the greater works of Christ.
Now, with regard to the story of Jesus’ encounter with the fig tree, remember the context in which Jesus said to Peter and the disciples to “Have Faith in God.” It was in response to Peter observing and telling Jesus that the fig tree He had spoken to the day before had wilted, dried up at the roots, and died.
Jesus was not only explaining to the disciples how He accomplished this wonder, but how they could too. How? By having “Faith in God.” Jesus was opening up the disciples spiritual eyes and understanding to the vast and unlimited capacity and power they possess within themselves, when God is fully trusted to work through them. Expressed another way, we can say that Jesus was saying to the disciples, if you want to exercise power over anything in the earth, place all your trust in what God has placed in you—God’s faith!
Now get a whole of this Saints as we are going deep into the Word of God. Make special note of this:
"The universe of the heart (spirit, and soul, including the mind of the soul) of every born-again believer in Jesus Christ is exceedingly superior to the physical or natural universe—the cosmos with all of its galaxies."
More specifically, the space and matter contained in the inner-being of the believer, is vastly greater than the space and matter of all of the galaxies in the universe, the cosmos! Glory be to God! Thus, when the believer in Jesus Christ prays with God, and walks in love and forgiveness, earthly temporal things are subject to and must obey the spoken desires from the universe of the believer’s heart.
Your Universe (Heart) Solely Desires What God Desires To Be Accomplished in the Earth.
The desires of your universe (all the space and matter contained in your heart) is identical to God's desires. Every space in your heart is only filled with the desires of God borne out of His great love for the cosmos. (John 3:16 & Rom. 5:5) Let's prove this out with several Scriptures that witness our Oneness with God the Father.
For consider that you have confessed Jesus Christ as Lord, and God dwells in you, and you in Him. (John 17: 20-23, I John 4:15, Galatians 3:28-30, I John 4:4). God has given to you a new heart and spirit, and taken away the stony heart of your sin-filled past. (Ezek. 36:26-27). God in Christ Jesus has placed His laws in your heart and written them on the mind of the soul. (Heb.10:17)
Remember, that you are joined to the Lord, and therefore “ONE Spirit.” (I Cor. 6:17) Recollect that you were born-again by the incorruptible seed of the Word of God, and that the worlds were framed by the Word of His power. (I Peter 1:23 & Heb. 1:3) Recall that you are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm in Christ, which is far above the cosmos, and these blessings are richer in wisdom and power than the cosmos. (Eph. 1:3) Isn't this wonderful?
Finally, understand and commit to memory forever, that when you received salvation, your heart was made perfect (whole)—complete in the fullness of the Godhead. (Heb. 10:12-14 & Col. 2:9-10) Oh my, how we have undervalued and underappreciated what it means to be saved—made whole! Since God and you are “One,” I rest my case that your heart possesses the desires of God, and His alone!
Your Universe (Heart) is Filled with God’s Agenda for Mankind and the Earth
The universe (space and matter) of your heart is filled with God's desires for “life” and “godly living” for every person and created thing on the earth. (II Pet. 1:3) If you examine your heart, and not your head, you will see that your spirit and soul only desires God's Agenda (Will) be done in your life, and especially in the lives of all people. Your heart pants with an unquenchable burning fire and desire and longsuffering for all people to receive Jesus Christ so they may have eternal life, and live a godly life-style before God!
While on the hand, in your head, (human brain) the non-transformed carnal brain, thinks only about earthly perceived needs, wants, and desires for self, and is the polar opposite of your God-regenerated heart. (Rom. 8:6-10) The born-again Christian’s heart is selfless, while the carnal brain is selfish—that is, until the human brain is renewed with the Word of God. (Rom. 12:1-2)
Most Christians do not understand that their earthly needs (food, clothes, shelter etc.) are supplied in abundance, as they delight themselves in God's desires. Jesus Christ taught that our labor is to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and not the things of the world we think we cannot do without. See Matt. 6:25-34 below:
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Seeking after and living by the desires of the human brain is like cooking meat in a frying pan without fire—the meat just will not get done! The vast majority of Christians focus on seeking after and obtaining the desires of the brain, and spend their lives toiling in self-cares, rather than mastering life's challenges through the power of their inward universe.
Moreover, the majority of Christians weekly come into the House of the Lord with worries, stresses, and cares about how to deal with their perceived self-needs: rent payments, parenting and child care issues, job-related problems, relational matters, etc. Rather than having a zeal and passion for seeking after the Kingdom of God within them. Not understanding and properly valuing that the outward-man is perishing, but the inner-man is renewed daily. (II Cor. 4:16) Many Christians are yet to learn that the more you dwell in God’s desires, the more their human needs are supplied through the Kingdom of God (Php. 4:19)
I have learned in life, and believe me I’m still learning and growing in God daily—that the more you chase after the temporal things of this world, the less effective you are at ruling your universe. Idolatry is just plain dumb! When you chase after things, it’s so much harder to acquire them—than to chase after God and have all things chase after and attach themselves to you! Abiding in your universe teaches you how to call things to you—rather than running after them—laboring, toiling, trying to take short-cuts and unnecessary risks, or break laws all for the sake of acquiring things.
I don’t know about you, but I cannot afford to lack or miss out on anything in my universe (heart) because I understand that true joy, peace, and happiness comes delighting in God's Agenda, God's desires, and not my own. Examine Psalm 37: 4, it reads:
Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Wow, what an amazing promise from God in Christ Jesus we have as born-again Christians. God says, delight yourself in Him—make your whole being soft and pliable to Him, come and pray and worship with the Lord, and He will give you the “desires of your heart.” We have established already that the desires of the born-gain Christian’s heart are identical to God’s desires—which is that every person receive every good thing that pertains to life and godliness. (II Pet.1:3)
Therefore, consider as Ambassadors of Christ, God has ordained that we go forth and do good works (miracles) established before the world began. (Eph. 2:10) We are destined to have divine appointments with people in crises all over America. Jesus told us to “Have Faith in God”—to place all our trust in God; that His desires for every person, abides in our universe (heart).
Thus, in prayer, from our universe (hearts) we speak with total confidence to the thing(s) raising havoc in a person’s life and command it to be removed and never return—and then, call forth the good thing we desire from our universe for the person to receive. This is God’s faith in practice—He calls those things that be not, as though they exist and are in place already. (Rom 4:17) We decree a thing and it is established because we are the stewards of the desires of the creator of the cosmos—God our Father! (Job 22:28)
Closing Thoughts
I close today’s Sermon with a Message God gave to Isaiah for the nation of Israel, in Chapter 42:5, which expresses God’s desire for mankind. This same desire abides within the heart (universe) of every born-again Christian. The Message Bible’s Version of Isaiah 42:5 reads:
God's Message, the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies, laid out the earth and all that grows from it, who breathes life into earth's people, makes them alive with his own life:
This is God’s great passion, to breathe His Spirit into every person’s life, so they may have God’s life and appropriate the God-kind of Faith to rule the physical universe from their inward universe. To enjoy deep and abiding fellowship and Oneness with God, and then see in manifestation everything that pertains unto life and godliness poured out on their sanctified lives. Saints of God, “Have Faith in God,” that His grace-filled work to establish His desires in your universe has already been accomplished forever, through Jesus Christ. Having always ready God’s faith, with all authority from your universe, to go forth and speak life and godliness into the lives of people in crises. Amen, to God be the glory for the things He has done!
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