Hallelujah, glory to God. Well, we've been starting a
journey on talking about reigning faith.
How many of you were here last Wednesday?
Amen. And we started out of second
Peter chapter 1 and verse 11 or one through 11.
Hallelujah, the Lord is good. Amen.
Haha y'all need to get a smile on your face.
Everybody just smile. Don't turn your head.
Smile. Smile on a brother and a sister.
Look to somebody else and smile. Amen.
Hallelujah. There's nothing to be sad about.
Not when we know what he's given us, Amen.
Hallelujah. Not when we know and we have to
remind ourselves of these things.
Amen. And so just as Paul was
reminding them in second Peter, was it Peter or Paul that
reminded them Anyway? One of them reminded them, said,
it doesn't bother me to remind you of these things.
Amen. We have to be reminded of things
so that we don't forget what's been given to us.
Amen, What's been given to us because there's there's times
that, you know, things talk so loud that those things start
getting real and you have to start reminding yourself, wait a
minute here. We don't have to deal with this
because we know who we are in Christ.
Amen. Hallelujah in second Peter
chapter 1. I want to read it and we're
going to remind you of some things we talked about.
You know, if we are going to be a reigning church, then we're
going to have to operate, operate in reigning faith.
And so in Second Peter chapter one, it says this Simon Peter, a
bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ to those who have
received a faith of the same kind of ours, say the same kind
of faith. Any person that's born again,
come on, who's called on the name of Jesus Christ will have
the same kind of faith. And so he said, you've received
a faith of the same kind of ours.
By what? The righteousness of our God and
Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied to
you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Verse 3. Seeing that His divine power has
granted to us everything pertaining to life and
godliness, Amen. And we said that last week.
This divine power that's been granted to us is dunamis,
Dunamis working power, which is where they get the word dynamite
from, right? And so this dunamis working
power's been granted to us, this dunamis power, and it literally
means absolutely everything necessary.
You need to live a dynamic spiritual life in him.
Hallelujah, everything. The minute you got born again,
you received the same faith, come on, the faith of God, and
you've been given the measure of faith.
Every single one of us that got born again.
And when we got born again, everything, everything that we
would ever need in this life, come on to live in this life and
to live a godly life. I don't want to just live life.
I want to live a godly life. It's already been put inside of
you to be able to do with His divine power and His divine
nature that He put within us everything to be successful, to
do exactly what He wants us to do.
We began a journey with Him and He put everything in us to be
able to walk it out according to Scripture, according to
godliness. Amen.
Hallelujah. He put it in and said, He put it
in me. Oh, He put it in me.
Say He put it in me. Hallelujah.
Don't let me get Mama on you. You know when you tell your
child to say something and they now you say what I just said and
then they and then you say no, say it again.
So I know you heard me. That wasn't good enough. 3 * a
charm always. You get 3 strikes, that's it,
right? Hallelujah.
So remember, we're engaging our faith as we sit here to hear.
Amen. Say hearing is good for me.
Yes, it's good for me. So everything he's already put
within us that we're going to need to walk out this dynamic
spiritual life in him. And we've been given dynamite
power. Come on, supernatural ability.
Come on. That power is residing on the
inside of us. Amen.
It's residing on the inside of us, and all we have to do is
pull it up. Hallelujah, you are a well.
Just think of yourself, as does any does.
Y'all new school people in here know what a real well was where
they had to go out in the freezing cold water with snow on
the ground and pump up the well to get water to boil to put in a
hot tub. Does anybody know what I'm
talking about? Raise your hand.
Now, if you've never seen one, raise your hand, all right?
See, there's a few people that's never seen one anyway, you have
to go out there and prime that. What?
That pump, You have to prime it. You have to.
There's water in there somewhere.
Come on, There's power in you somewhere, inherent power, and
we have to go prime that pop to pull up the whale of power so
that it can flow. And the more you pop it, what
happens? The more it will flow.
You let it sit. What happens if you let that
sit? Even in the natural with a
whale, it could what, dry up? Come on.
So we have to constantly prime the pump of the on the inside of
us with the power that is dwelling within Hallelujah, so
that we can walk out this dynamic life of faith.
This is what we're calling reigning faith.
Reigning faith. If we're going to reign in life,
if we're going to reign over circumstances, over situations,
over our problems, over our finances, over our rebellious
teenagers, oh, come on. If we're going to rub, you know,
reign over these things, then we're going to have to realize
that we're going to have to reign in our faith.
Hallelujah. We're going to have to reign in
our faith. We cannot do this without faith.
We cannot do it and fall back. Who so easily bewitched you?
You started this thing out by the Spirit, but you've gone back
to the what flesh, the works, trying to work it out yourself.
And believers can't do that. And so you have to remind
yourself, wait a minute, I have the Spirit of God, the power of
God on the inside of me, and I'm going to have to pump and prime
that well. Come on to be able to overcome
these situations and circumstances that we are
encountering. And then he lets us know that
we've been given this divine life of God.
Zoway life flows through your veins.
Amen Zoway life, eternal life. And so in that it will produce
everything that we need. There is a full supply.
None of us who are born again and spirit filled are lacking
anything. We're not lacking anything.
We may not have knowledge of some things, but guess what?
He lets us know. We're supposed to get knowledge.
You may not know what all belong, what all is on the
inside of you yet, but He's always going to lead you to
where you will discover those things and you'll discover them.
If you're hungry, He says what those that hunger and thirst
after righteousness will be what?
Filled or satisfied. If you're not satisfied with
your wall, go get in. Come on, go get in to the
knowledge of God's Word, Amen. Go get into the knowledge of
God's word. And so we talked about faith.
You know, we have been taught faith.
I mean, there are some we set up underneath the best faith
teachers in our lifetime, in my lifetime, and I've heard a lot
of faith teaching, but I don't believe there's been very much
faith teaching in the direction of Second Peter.
There's lots of faith teaching in confession for what finances
believing God for this and for that, for that.
But I don't hear much faith teaching talking about adding to
our faith, the principles and qualities of character.
The only one character that I ever hear preached about with
great faith teachers is love, because see, your faith won't
work outside of love. But do you know there's other
things that this scripture says that are to be a supply to our
faith? And this is what we're talking
about today. We know that faith is a firm
persuasion, a confident expectation.
According to Hebrews 11, right now, faith is the substance of
things. What hope for the evidence of
things not seen. And we'll quote that scripture
all day long for our bill to be paid.
Come on now. We'll quote that scripture all
day long for that vehicle, that jet, that house, all the things.
But I don't hear a lot of people quoting that scripture for them
to have self-control, for them to have perseverance, for hit
them to actually have knowledge and wisdom.
According to scripture, for all the other qualities, there's
seven qualities that he talks about here in second Peter, one
through 11. Let's look at these because I
believe that we're going to have to take our faith and shift it
to these qualities that are going to be a supply to my faith
so that when I'm having to stand to believe God for something,
self-control is going to be there.
Perseverance is going to be there.
Knowledge is going to be there on how to believe for and call
those things. OK, and so much of this is
lacking here and we see that we're going to have to get some
adjustments here because again, the scripture says when I when
he returns, will he find faith in the earth.
So how in the world US that's been taught through the Word of
Faith and been taught by great faith teachers, think to myself,
how in the world would he not return and find faith in the
world because they've not supplied their faith with the
qualities of the character that's going to keep them in
faith? We're talking about reigning
faith, reigning faith. And I came up with this because
of what I've, I was reminding myself of what I was taught
faith was from one of our faith instructors.
And he said this, that faith is a what firm persuasion, a
confident expectation, but not just a confident expectation.
It is a confident expectation that is acted upon because
without action, you can say it all day long, but it's not your
reality unless you act upon it. That means you're going to have
to step out when you see nothing.
You're going to have to believe God when you see that your
marriage is on the verge of divorce.
Why don't you call those things that be not Come on and use your
confession to create your reality of what you want
according to the word of God. You see what I'm saying, Amen.
And so I like to read it like this.
Reigning faith is the substance or the assurance.
And we've heard it said the title deed of the things hoped
for and the evidence of proof or conviction of the reality of
things not seen by the physical senses, the title deed.
We've been taught that faith is the title deed.
It's as if you already own it. It's already yours.
A person that is in faith knows that it already belongs to me.
If I'll stay in a position, come on, of calling those things that
be not as though they if I'll stay firmly persuaded, if I'll
stay in a position and act upon what it is that I'm hearing by
faith, come on, it will be done. It will be done.
Hallelujah. OK, here's a good one.
You need to write this down. Y'all should be taking notes.
I don't even know. Reigning faith anchors itself in
God's reliable promises, not circumstances, making it a
powerful force to manifest the unseen.
Remember, we said faith is the currency of the Kingdom, and
it's faith that brings what the unseen into the scene.
So remember, faith is to be that tangible reality in your life.
That means you're going to you're going to see what he says
in his word come to pass in your life.
If you'll stay in a position firmly sweat persuaded, come on,
you'll see it come to pass in your life.
So let me read that again because I saw some of you taking
a note. I mean, I went back and read my
notes from 20 years ago. Come on.
This is reality to me. This is what I live by and this
is what God wants everyone that has his faith to live by.
He says the righteous say what? Live by faith and we're to go
from faith to faith. So it's perpetual, perpetual
faith, perpetual reigning faith. Come on to reign over.
Let me read it again. Reigning faith anchors, aren't
you thankful that we have anchor faith?
Hallelujah. I'm anchored in my faith,
Hallelujah. It is my anchor and my anchor
holds. Come on when the winds and the
waves and the everything's blowing and and going against,
you know, my anchor is holding because I have faith,
Hallelujah, in the word of God and who he is, His anchor holds
and he is the anchor of my soul. Hebrews.
It's the anchor of my soul. You better have an anchor on
your soul or either your soul's going to go everywhere, and
that's what the word will do. It will keep you anchored when
all the world's going crazy. No, I have an anchor.
I have faith. Hallelujah.
So reigning faith anchors itself in God's reliable promises, not
circumstances, making it a powerful force to manifest the
unseen, Hallelujah, to manifest the unseen in your life.
So we're supposed to live by this faith, Amen.
We are supposed to be people that know how to operate in
faith and have a reigning faith. Amen.
If we are going to be the reigning church.
Now let's go to back to the qualities of the scripture that
he's talking about here that needs to be added to our faith.
I hear a lot of people talk about Romans.
Faith comes from what hearing and from hearing from the word
of God and and you won't have faith outside of the word, but
faith alone is not just all that is going to get you over outside
of these qualities that he talks about here in second Peter
chapter 2. So let's read them.
It says this now verse 5 for this very reason.
Also apply all diligence in your what faith?
He doesn't say. Now just sit there and confess
and confess and confess and confess and confess.
No, there's some things that need to be added to your faith
that needs to be put together with your firm persuasion, your
confident expectation. So this word add says applying
all diligence. First, let me tell you what
diligence is. Diligence is something.
Diligence is something that you make an effort to do.
To be diligent, then you are making an effort to supply my
faith with some things. I'm going to make an effort,
right? I'm going to.
It also means to exert oneself. That means it's going to take
you putting the effort or putting the work in.
Just like we hear teachers tell their students, you need to be
diligent to do this and to do that to get your homework done.
You're not being diligent. You're not putting any effort in
it. And he says, listen, you are
going to have to be diligent by applying some things to your
faith, not just your confession, not just reading the word cause
faith comes from hearing. But actually he says here, exert
yourself also strive after make an effort endeavor.
It also means this to be diligent to be prompt to study,
to be prompt to study, and to labor.
See, everybody just thinks faith just happens.
No, it doesn't. The only way it just happens is
when you call on the name of the Lord, faith.
The mustard seed of faith gets deposited within your spirit and
from there it's up to you if it will remain just a little bitty
seed or if that seed is going to grow and going to blossom and
going to come to its fullness. Come on, it's up to you.
It's up to you if you are going to be like the centurion that
says just speak the word only and my servant will be healed.
And Jesus, what he marveled at his what great faith, his great
faith. And so to walk into great faith,
reigning faith, there's going to be some things that we are going
to have to be diligent to put to work in our life.
Amen. And so he says, add this to your
faith. What does it mean to add?
It says applying all diligence in your faith.
One translation says add to your faith.
One translation says supply your faith.
So all of these have that same context, context that we are
going to have to bring something to supply to our faith.
And when you look up that word supply in the Greek, it means to
furnish, oh, I love this, to minister to, to minister,
nourishment to. So your faith needs minister to
and nourished. Wow.
So when he's saying you be diligent to minister, bring
nourishment to your faith, furnish, it means to furnish
your faith. Hallelujah.
So he's saying there's this. Listen, your faith needs to be
nourished. It needs to be ministered to.
And what did he say here? Number one, there were 7
qualities that he listed here, Godly qualities.
And let me just make this before we get into the qualities, I
want to talk about what he said. When you continue to read that
verse, If we will add and do all these things that He tells us to
do, and he tells us that it should be, these things should
be growing and increasing in our life #1 He says that they will
keep you from being idle and fruitless.
So people that are fruitless, maybe it's because they've not
nourished their faith, people that are idle, maybe it's
because they haven't nourished their faith, they haven't
brought a supply to their faith in these qualities in their
life. So it says this it, it will keep
them from stumbling. We talked about this.
Oh, you just think you never make a mistake.
Oh, you just think you're better than everybody.
No, I actually believe the Scripture that if I'll increase
in some qualities that God listed here, I can be assured
that I will never stumble. That's not prideful, that's not
arrogant. That's actually having faith,
trusting, relying in God's Word, that if he said that if I do
these things and that to my faith and continue to grow and
increase these qualities in my life, that I can be assured I
will never stumble. What does this word stumble
mean? When you look it up in the
Greek, it means to error. It means to make a mistake.
Yeah, I never have to make a mistake.
I'm not saying that I can do it, but me adding to my faith, doing
what the word says, Come on, then I can be assured that I'm
not going to make a mistake. I'm not going to error.
I'm not going to stumble. It means to fall.
I'm not going to fall. It means to, you know, fall into
sin. I'm not going to fall into sin.
Amen. That's what it means.
Look it up, dare ya. It also means listen to this,
which I believe is one of the greatest things, that it's not
going to cause me to offend someone else to sin, because
what we do matters. What we say matters, how we live
matters. And I don't care.
You can say you have faith to move these mountains and faith
to do all these things. And yet I've seen people that
fall on their face because they have not brought a supply of
nourishment to these qualities and this character in their life
and they're falling left and right.
So, oh, and if you actually, I'll get over onto the side
note, if you actually look up that word stumble, it brings you
over to James where he actually talks about if you've matured
enough to where your words, you don't stumble by your words.
So God's concerned actually about every idle word.
He's concerned about every word and he don't want you even
stumbling there. But I'll move on.
So he says 7 qualities that he wants us to.
I'm glad I have another week to teach this.
Not this Wednesday but the next one when we come back from the
holidays. He says this supply moral
excellence. What is moral excellence or one
translation virtue? Right virtue means moral
excellence. What are we doing?
This literally is talking about aligning your thoughts, your
feelings, and your actions with the righteousness of God or
right living. So we are supposed to supply our
faith in our thoughts, our actions, our behaviors, our
emotions. All of those need to be in
alignment with righteousness. Moral excellence, right?
It means choosing His way of doing things instead of ours.
So if someone does you wrong and you want to lash out, what are
you going to do? I'm going to choose to do it his
way. I'm going to choose to let them
slap me in the face and turn the cheek. 7 * 70 So see, that's
choosing his way of doing it, His moral excellencies, no
matter what people are saying, you choose to do it his way,
right? Because these qualities matter
to my faith and I'm not going to be able to operate fully in the
faith of God that he tells us to have in Mark 1123 and 24.
Because I do still teach faith out of Mark 1123 and 24, Have
faith in God or what translation and have the God kind of faith.
And I'm not going to have the God kind of faith outside of
these qualities operating in my life and adding a supply to my
faith, right? So I'm going to choose his way
of doing things instead of my ways.
And it means to actually practice living by what the Word
says instead of how you want to do things or how you feel about
things. Because it all has to do about
your thoughts, your actions, your emotions, all your be, all
of these things. And he wants them all in
alignment to the way he responds and the way he does things.
And that's going to bring a supply or nourishment to my
faith. Hallelujah.
Look at Second Peter chapter 3 and verse 14 and then in verse
18 it says this. So beloved, since you are
looking forward to these things, be diligent.
Here's that word again. And make every effort to be
found in Him at His return, spotless and blameless in peace.
That is the inward calm with a sense of spiritual well-being
and confidence, having lived a life of obedience to Him, but
grow spiritually and mature in the grace and the knowledge of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory, honor, majesty, splendor, but now, both
now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
And this should be our our motto as well, that we want to live in
such a way. Come on.
That we are spotless and blameless.
Hallelujah. And confidence that I have lived
a life of obedience to His word and I have allowed myself to
grow spiritually and mature. Remember, he says, if these
things grow and increase in you and that word is active when
they are actively growing, when they are actively increasing in
you, come on, then that is going to bring a nourishment to your
faith, a confidence to your faith.
Amen. Philippians chapter 2 and verse
12. So then, my dear ones, just if
you have always obeyed my instructions with enthusiasm,
not only in my presence but now much more in my absence,
continue to work out your salvation.
Remember, the minute you get born again doesn't mean you are
fully mature. No, there's things that you have
to grow in your faith. You have to grow in your faith.
You have to increase in your faith.
You have to mature as a believer.
You are the one that has to work out your salvation.
You are the one that are are are now responsible for the journey
that you are following through with him.
Not in your own effort, only by the grace and the knowledge of
God. Come on.
But there is an effort. There is an effort, but it's not
the effort for me to be born again.
I'm already born again, but there is an effort for me to
work out my salvation and to add to my faith and to mature and to
grow. What does it mean here in the
amplified? Work out your salvation that is
cultivated. Bring it to full effect.
That means it's a baby seed in you and you have to be the one
now to nourish it. Feed it.
Come on you feed your what faith.
How do you feed your faith on the Word of God, but not just on
the Word, just hearing the Word, but also what?
Doing the Word, walking it out, practicing it, that's what
cultivates it. Bring it to full effect.
Actively pursue spiritual maturity with fear and
trembling, using serious caution and critical self evaluation.
Isn't that interesting? We have to allow the Lord to
critically evaluate you. A critic, What does he say?
I mean, you've heard Pastor Angie say it for years.
Judge my heart, Lord. See if there is anything unclean
within me. That's what we're saying.
Allow him to critically look at you and say, hey, you need to
tweak this and then be willing and obedient to do it.
And that's when it's real to you.
But if you resist it and you don't do it, it's not you,
you're not it's not for you. You're not going to grow, you're
not going to mature, you're not going to fully have effect of
this spiritual life, right? Hallelujah.
Critical self evaluation to avoid anything that might offend
God or discredit his name in Christ.
Amen. And I read Philippians 48 to
you, right? Finally, brethren, whatsoever is
true, remember all these things you're to think on.
This is what we are to meditate on.
And when we are thinking on these things and meditating on
these things, and when we are acting these things in and
pursuing these things and acting them out in our life by faith,
come on then. It is bringing a nourishment to
our faith. It is supplying our faith.
We are able to grow in our faith.
Amen. Hallelujah.
Kim, do you have time for one more and then we can do the rest
the next time we come together? What was the next thing he said
that we need to add to our faith or nourish our faith or minister
to our faith with knowledge, knowledge, knowledge or moral
wisdom and application of God's Word, right.
So outside of His Word, if you're not a person that reads
the word every day, then guess what's not being applied,
supplied to your faith? And we wonder why so many
believers are anorexic. They are not reading the Word.
They're not meditating in the Word day and night.
They're not spending time. Come on.
Feeding their faith, supplying their faith with the nourishment
that it needs, and then when something happens, you see them
fall apart. Why do they fall apart?
Because they have not fed their faith with the proper nutrients
that they need. The knowledge of God's word,
right? The moral wisdom and application
of God's Word. Hallelujah.
And it means this, that not word knowledge means moral wisdom,
application of God's Word such as is seen in right living.
Every one of these qualities, the seven that we're going to
discuss, must be seen and evident in a person's life.
Every time you read it and look it up in the Greek, it's about
it being what there is going to be fruit in your life, there's
going to be fruit in your life. And I've seen some stinking
fruit in people's lives that say they're full of faith.
But the the fruit that I want to see that will become tangible
and evident in their life are these qualities.
I don't care if they have a jet, but they have come on no moral
excellence or they don't live right.
They smoke a cigar and drink bourbon.
Right. So again, these are things that
when he talks about knowledge, he's talking about the wisdom
and the application of God's Word being applied to your life
in such a way that it can be seen and right living, or what
we like to call the fruits of what righteousness, the fruits
of righteousness should be able to be seen in your life.
If you're applying these qualities and you're living this
out according to His word, not your own opinions, not your own
thoughts about what the Scripture says, know what his
word clearly states, right? And so it's not hard, say it's
not hard 2 scriptures and we'll close Colossians 1 to align with
this knowledge. Colossians 1 and 9.
For this reason, since this day we heard about it, we have not
stopped praying for you, asking specifically that you would be
filled with the knowledge of His what?
His will. What is his will?
The Word, the Word of God is His will for your life.
It's His will and we call that His general will for every
believers life. Is that we would align ourselves
with the qualities of Scripture, the general will of God for
every believer. And then then and only then as
you are operating in the general will of God of his Word.
He will begin to what speaks specific plans and purposes and
pursuits that he has for you to fulfill his will for your life
and so many people you still hear as believers.
I don't know what God wants me to do.
It tells me then you're not a person of the word.
You cannot be in the word and not know the will of God can't
won't happen, can't happen. It's not possible.
You will know the will of God and many know the will of God
and just choose not to do it. OK, so the knowledge of His
will, what in all spiritual wisdom with insight into His
purposes, you see that and an understanding of spiritual
things. None of us should be ignorant of
His Word and of spiritual things as a believer.
Every single one of us should have the knowledge and wisdom of
God's Word and God's will flowing and operating in our
life if we are being students of the Word, if we are being true
disciples. Amen.
And last Scripture and we'll close Ephesians chapter 1,
Ephesians chapter one, verse 17 and 18 out of the amplified.
I always pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Father of glory, would grant you a spirit of what wisdom and of
revelation that gives you a deep and personal and intimate
insight into the true knowledge of Him.
For we know the Father through the Son.
Verse 18. And I pray that the eyes of your
heart or understanding, the very center and core of your being,
would be enlightened and flooded with light by the Holy Spirit,
so that you'll know and cherish the hope, the divine guarantee,
Hallelujah, the confident expectation to which He has
called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the
Saints, God's people, Hallelujah.
We have been given and granted come on divine power, the divine
nature of God to live this life fully dynamic spiritual life and
have a faith come on a faith that is raining and flourishing
in our life. If every day and we will see
that happen when we begin to add and bring a supply to our faith
through these qualities in Second Peter.
And the same way that we call those things that be not as
though they are for the resources for our lives needs to
be the same way you call those things that be not for these
qualities to flow and to operate in your life every day.
For moral excellence, Father, I thank you, I thank you.
I thank you that you said, oh, that I could walk in moral
excellence and virtue and in my thoughts and in my come on and
in my actions and in my mind and in my will and in my emotions.
I thank you, Father, that my thoughts will be your thoughts.
And I thank you, Lord, that you said that I could take every
thought captive and line it up to the word of God, to the will
of God. And so listen, I call that, come
on, are we being diligent to say, Father, I thank you that I
have the knowledge of your will, that I have the mind of Christ,
that I can know and have spiritual insight and revelation
to the knowledge of your word, to apply it to my life, to line
myself up to your will and your way of doing things so that I
walk in the fruits of righteousness in my life to
bring faith, bring a nourishment to my faith.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah. And I'm telling you, our faith
will begin to flourish if we'll nourish, if we'll nourish it
with these qualities and be diligent to focus on some of
these things in our lives. Our faith, Hallelujah, is going
to go to another. Come on from faith to faith.
And we're going to see us walking out a dynamic spiritual
life. Oh, Hallelujah.
Because I still believe that the best is yet to come and I'm
going to be smack right dab in the middle of it.
And I'm not going to let anything come on, pull my faith
so that I, in these last days, would want to fall away from the
faith. No, I'm going to be fully
supplied and nourished in my faith to stay focused and
diligent. Hallelujah.
And I'm telling you, He wants every single one of us to
evaluate where we really are, Hallelujah.
So that we can bring another come on another bit and piece of
nourishment so that we can have a reigning faith.
Amen.