181-Listening to the Word Repeatedly Can Generate Faith#
181-Listening to the Word Repeatedly Can Generate Faith
(JP Text Group - Grace Grass)
The topic we are sharing today is called "Listening to the Word Repeatedly Can Generate Faith."
Hebrews 11:6
Without faith, it is impossible to please God; for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. Amen!
Let us begin with a prayer:
Heavenly Father, we especially thank and praise You! It is You who prepared this opportunity for Your children to share Your words together here. As a new week begins, we are willing to dedicate this time before You to receive Your personal provision. Help every brother and sister who comes before You today, so that we may all gain something here. When we share about Jesus Christ, may Your power, Your authority, and Your anointing fill us. We completely commit the following time to You, in the name of our Lord Jesus, we pray, Amen!
In the scripture we just read, it mentions something that says, "Without faith," which means that if you do not believe in God, then you cannot receive anything that follows. The meaning of without faith is: You must first believe in God, and then come before Him to pray.
Today, many people know that there is a God, but they do not believe in Him, so after praying, they still have some doubts. We receive everything from God by faith; although our God is invisible and intangible, He truly exists. If we do not believe in the power of this God, we might feel like we are just talking to the air, and after a long time of praying, we might find it quite boring. But if today you know that: God indeed hears your prayers, and with such a heart, you receive from God, no matter what we pray for, we must first believe that God is willing to give.
"Without faith, one cannot please God, for whoever comes to God must believe that He exists." You must believe in your heart that there is a God and that He rewards those who seek Him. So what is a reward? It is given freely! It is not something you earned by doing something for God, nor is it because you did good deeds that you deserve it.
When you pray to God, you must believe that today God is willing to reward you, that He is willing to give to you, and that when you come before Him, He gives to you purely by His grace. Come before God with such a heart and pray.
So no matter what we pray for, we believe in our hearts that: Yes, God is willing to grant me grace, it is given freely, not because of what I have done, so God gives to me. Come before Him with such a heart to pray. Therefore, in all matters of our lives, we receive by faith before God. If it is not by faith, it will not last. If some people worry that God has not heard their prayers, it is actually because they have actions involved. Think about it, when a person prays, "I estimate that God has not heard this prayer," what could be the reason? Generally speaking, it relates to oneself: either my actions are not good enough, or I have not done many things that please God recently. Because they connect their actions to themselves, they lose faith in their prayers to God.
But our prayers are not like that; when you come before God, you believe that God is willing to bless you, and then you go. No matter how your actions are now, you must believe that God is willing to grant us grace today, not because of our actions, but because of God's willingness to reward us. Come before God to pray with such a heart; this is called receiving by faith, not by our actions.
So what should we learn? To seek Him in faith, to pray, this is what pleases God, Amen! Therefore, the Bible says, "Without faith, one cannot please God," we are saved by faith. In our lives, what we receive from God is also by faith. So our Christian life should actually start with faith and end with faith.
The devil is an evil spirit; he can only tell you: you do not deserve these blessings, your actions are not good enough, or you have not done things that please God during this time, so God will not bless you. Do not focus on the devil, do not think about how to defeat the devil or the dark forces; what we need to do is to focus on Jesus Christ. Do not look at how many unfair things are in the world or how great the devil's power is; just look at Jesus, for Jesus' power is always greater than the devil's, Amen!
When we know that our focus should be on Jesus, in faith, the devil is forever defeated. If you have the faith of Jesus, the devil is not worth mentioning before you. Many people always say: we need to bind the devil, we need to overcome the devil. In fact, it is unnecessary; you just need to fill your heart with Jesus, and what is the devil's power? You are already victorious, Amen!
If today we shout and yell at the devil every day, do you think the devil will be afraid of us? So for us, those are useless; you only need to command him to leave you in the name of Jesus Christ. The devil fears Jesus, not us, and it is not that the devil is afraid because we shout loudly; the devil does not fear those things. So what truly makes him afraid is Jesus Christ. Therefore, every temptation of the devil is to make you leave Jesus; he tries every means to make you leave Jesus because when you leave Jesus, your faith is gone.
Please remember, our faith must be related to Jesus.
So let’s look at a passage from the Bible, Hebrews 12:1-2. Let’s read it together:
Hebrews 12:1-2
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Amen!
You see, the great men of faith in the past are our examples of faith. Those people, you see, he says we have so many witnesses, like a cloud surrounding us. Hebrews chapters 11 and 12 mention many spiritual greats. Abraham, Moses, Isaac, what were these people relying on? Faith! None of them relied on their actions, saying: "Today, because my actions are good, God will bless me." No! Not one of them was like that! They all relied on faith!
So what is the purpose of these witnesses, like a cloud surrounding us? To let you lay down your burdens and not worry about your burdens anymore. You say: "Oh! I am suffering, I am tired, my burden is too great!" You see so many people in front of you, all relying on faith, not on their good actions, to let God bless them. At this time, you should lay down your burden and cast off the sin that clings so closely.
So how can we cast these off? You see that they are blessed by God; you should believe that God is also willing to bless you today. Only then can you cast off the things that originally entangled us. Otherwise, you say how many things in our lives are entangling us: work, family, children, the elderly. You see these things are all good things, but some people are entangled by them, meaning they want to do other things but cannot because these things have entangled them. God says this is called a burden; how do we lay down these burdens? You believe that God will open a better path for you, Amen!
Then it says, "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith." Here is a very important thing, which is to look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. What does it mean to look to God? Many people today say we need to look to God, we need to look to God. How do we define looking to God? Almost every church says you need to look to God; when you encounter problems, you need to look to God. So what does it mean to look to God?
Actually, it is very simple; you see here it says, "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith." So who are we looking to? Jesus! You must remember, this tells us very clearly to look to Jesus. So what does Jesus add in front of this? "The founder and perfecter of our faith." When you look to Jesus, you will have faith.
What is the reason? This Jesus is not here to strike you down; this Jesus is not here to destroy your life. What is this Jesus here for? To give you faith, the founder and perfecter of faith. What does it mean to be the founder and perfecter? Founder means He is the beginning, and perfecter means He is the end. So where does our faith begin? From Jesus! That's right, you must remember, our faith starts from Jesus because He is the beginning of faith, and He is also the end of faith. This is our Christian life.
Our Christian life should start with faith and end with faith. This is what we initially talked about, "from faith to faith." What does this phrase mean? It starts with faith and ends with faith. Are we saved from faith? Yes. Remember, we are saved by faith. What about the end? It should also end with faith.
In fact, many people say we need to look to Jesus, to look to the faith of Jesus. Looking means focusing on Jesus, putting your gaze on Jesus; this is what it means to look to Him. So looking to God is a very simple thing; it is to see what Jesus has done for you. You say you need faith; that’s easy, just look to Jesus, and you will have faith. What is the reason we lack faith? We say: "Lord, I cannot do this." Of course, when we look at ourselves, after various judgments and analyses, we find we cannot do it; we really cannot do it.
But when you look at Jesus, can Jesus do it? Yes! Then you will have faith. He says: "I myself do not dare to do this." Well, can Jesus give you strength? When you have this thought, you think: Yes, those great men in the past could not do those things; God was with them, and they did it.
You see how God helped them; today you should believe that God will help us in the same way. God can turn them around; God can also turn us around today. This is called "focusing on Jesus," which the Bible refers to as "looking to Jesus Christ."
So He is the beginning and the end of our faith. If you want to have faith, spend a little more time getting close to Jesus. Just know Jesus' power, authority, and His love for you, focus on Jesus Christ, immerse yourself in His words, and your faith will grow. So remember, brothers and sisters: our faith is related to Jesus. You cannot say today: I will preach the Ten Commandments to you and hope you can have faith; this is absolutely impossible.
Remember: the more you hear the Ten Commandments, the less faith you have. When you have no faith, how can you have faith? You say: I want to strive to have faith. Can declaring like this give you faith? You say: I want to have faith, I want to have faith, I want to have faith... You find that after shouting hundreds of times, you still have no faith. So faith is not shouted into existence; when God lets you understand Jesus, you will have faith.
You must know: all our blessings come from believing in Jesus, given to us by Jesus, Amen! So in the Bible, you will find many people who came to Jesus and received healing, received power, and received Jesus' provision. When the sick came to Jesus, He said, "Your faith has saved you." So whose faith is it? It is still Jesus' faith, so Jesus said, "Your faith has saved you." We need to apply this faith to ourselves; it is about how much faith you have in Jesus.
Jesus' faith is one hundred; you say I can only believe up to ten, then this ten is your faith, Amen! How much you believe in Jesus is your faith. So when Jesus asked blind Bartimaeus, "What do you want me to do for you?" Bartimaeus said, "Lord, I want to see." Jesus said, "Then you see." Later, did Jesus not say, "Your faith has saved you"? So everything actually comes from receiving by faith; our faith must come from focusing on Jesus and then producing.
Romans 10:14-17
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
This passage tells us: Faith comes from hearing. This means: today, you can believe in Jesus because someone has told you about Jesus. You cannot say: "Oh, one day I suddenly believed." This is impossible; someone must preach, and you must hear before you can believe in Him. So where does hearing come from? From the word of Christ. We just said, our faith comes from Jesus Christ; it is related to Jesus Christ.
So today, when you go to hear the word, you can generate faith. Remember: you must pay attention to whose word you are hearing! So many people have changed this phrase, saying: "Our faith comes from the word of God." Is this statement correct? Our faith comes from the word of God, right? It sounds correct.
Now let me ask you: Are the Ten Commandments the word of God? Is the law the word of God? If our faith can be generated from these, then we do not need the word of Christ. That’s right, you must accurately understand this phrase: our faith comes from the word of Christ. If you meditate on the Ten Commandments in detail, it will not generate faith; instead, it will reduce your faith because in the face of the law, you originally had some faith, thinking you could still be accepted by God, but upon seeing it, you realize there is no benefit at all.
So our faith comes from the word of Christ; faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes from the word of Christ. This must not be changed; if it is changed, problems will arise. The Israelites in the past under the Old Testament law, who would dare to say they had faith? You find that in that aspect, they looked at your actions; when you look at yourself, there is no benefit at all. So here it mentions two things: how is our faith generated? From hearing! Whose words? The words of Christ.
When we talk about Jesus, faith is generated. You will find that when we are together, and everyone starts discussing the Ten Commandments, you will find there is no faith. When discussing the Ten Commandments, who can say they are excluded from this? Right? But when we are together discussing Jesus, what problem do you find? Faith is generated.
Some people have no faith; after hearing about Jesus, they have faith, and this is the reason. In other words, when we talk about Jesus and what He has done for us on the cross, our faith is generated because Jesus has accomplished everything and wants to give this to us; we have faith, and we are willing to draw near to God, Amen!
So here it mentions: constantly listening to the word, listening to the word, listening to the word, is this not the case? "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?" A person who does not believe in Jesus will not call on Jesus. If they do not believe in Him, they will absolutely not seek Him. "And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?"
So here it tells us a very important thing: You cannot seek someone you do not believe in. Is this not the same in the secular world? When you need help, you cannot seek someone you do not trust; you know they will not help you, so how can you seek them? Therefore, when we seek, we must first believe that He is willing to help us, Amen!
Where does our faith come from today? It actually comes from the word of Christ! The word of Christ can generate faith. Although some people say, "Oh, I did not get faith this way; I just needed God, and I prayed before God, and God spoke to me directly." This indeed happened in the Old Testament; does it happen today? Yes, but God does not often use this method anymore.
Sometimes, when we are confused about certain things, God will speak to us, but the number of times God speaks directly to us today has become very rare; in most cases, how does He tell you? Through the Bible, the word of Christ.
So in our daily lives, do not be too extreme on this issue. Today, many factions of people say what? After getting up in the morning, they start praying, insisting that God must tell them what to wear, whether it is the black one or the yellow one. If you do not tell me, I will not wear clothes.
As a result, after praying, God has not spoken, and they keep waiting; will they not go to work? Has this not gone to an extreme?
In fact, in the Bible, has God not given us this freedom? No matter if you wear the yellow one or the black one, whichever you like, just wear it; this matter does not need God to tell you personally. Do you understand, brothers and sisters? So in these matters, the word of God has already told us how to live; you can live according to the word of Christ, hallelujah!
So we need to constantly hear the gospel, and where does the gospel start? It starts from Jesus; keep listening to the teachings about Jesus, keep listening to the truths about Jesus, and your faith will be generated, Amen! Thank and praise the Lord! So from Genesis to Revelation, you must see Jesus Christ in the word of God.
Is the Old Testament the word of God? Yes, so the entire Bible is actually talking about Jesus Christ. It is just that Jesus in the Old Testament is hidden, and in the New Testament, He is revealed. Whether you read the Old Testament or the New Testament, you must see Jesus in it, and you will generate faith. If you do not see Jesus, it may discourage your faith.
Let me give a simple example. Is there the story of Abraham offering Isaac in the Old Testament? If you cannot see Jesus in this, it is a very dangerous doctrine. In the past, when I was trained, the pastor on stage asked us, "Do you love God?" We said: Yes, of course, we love God.
Then he said, "Are you willing to offer your son to God?" At this point, we did not answer. If you say you are willing to offer, it may be deceiving God; you yourself do not have the faith to offer, right? If you say, "I am not willing to offer, Pastor," "Look, you still say you love God!"
Is this what that passage of scripture is saying? No! So the focus is wrong; what is that passage of scripture introducing? Abraham offering Isaac symbolizes our Heavenly Father offering His only Son Jesus to us; it is talking about God's love! If today you must offer your son as a burnt offering to God, do you think you can do it? How could that be possible? So if you do not see Jesus in the Bible, it may discourage your faith.
Many people say: Do you know why you do not have Abraham's faith? Because you have not offered your son. Do you know why you have no faith? Because you have not offered your tithe, you have not offered your family! Then you see, it seems that God must take something from us before He can give us faith. Is this not turning into a condition? In this case, we would feel: "Lord, believing in You is so difficult! I feel like I have to give more to get something from You!"
But you see, when Abraham offered Isaac, it represented that Abraham's heart was very reluctant, right? Just this one son, born at a hundred years old. If you say, "Alright, just offer it," that must not be his son. It is not that easy; it is very hard to part with.
But in the end? Did he still offer it? Did God want his son? No. That is the fact; God did not want his son but provided a ram instead. But our true Heavenly Father offered His only beloved Son; did He not also love Jesus very much? So you think about how much Abraham loved this only beloved son Isaac; our Heavenly Father loves His only beloved Son Jesus just as much. Abraham did not offer his son, did not kill his son, but our Heavenly Father offered His Jesus for us, precisely because He loves us.
So when you see this, does faith arise? You know that Jesus was offered for whom? That’s right, it was for us, so you see: Yes, the Father offered His Son to us because He loves me. You will generate faith! Otherwise, it would be impossible to generate faith; you would feel: because you gave little to God, God will not bless you, and God will not hear your prayers, and you have no faith. So in the Old Testament, you must remember to see Jesus when reading the Bible, and you will have faith, hallelujah!
Galatians 3:12 tells us, "The law is not based on faith." Remember, is there faith in the law? The meaning of "the law is not based on faith" is that there is no faith in the law; do not look for faith in the law, do not look for faith in the Ten Commandments; it is not there.
Galatians 3:12 says, "The law is not based on faith," but says, "The one who does these things shall live by them." This means that if you want to have faith, today you read the Ten Commandments; it can only say that if you complete all the Ten Commandments, you can live, but it will not generate faith. Faith does not come from listening to the Ten Commandments; faith comes from Jesus Christ. Today, God tells you what Jesus has done for you, how much He loves you, and you will have faith, Amen!
So when a person believes in God's promises, their faith is generated.
Let’s look at a passage from Romans 4:13-16:
Romans 4:13-16
13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
Does this passage say it very clearly? Are we not the offspring of Abraham today? Yes! So God calls the promise to belong to Abraham and his offspring; what kind of promise? The promise to inherit the world. What do you think inheriting the world means? Inheriting means this blessing will come upon you. Do you understand?
Inheriting means it has come upon you. This blessing was originally with God, and now it has come upon you; it has come upon you. All the blessings of Abraham can come upon us today, but what is the reason for it coming upon you? It is not because of the law, but because of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Today, you believe, and God will grant you His blessings because you are the offspring of Abraham, and that is the only reason. So it goes on to say, "For if it is the adherents of the law," meaning if it is because of the law, if it is because of your good actions, if it is because of what kind of good deeds you have done that makes you a child of God, then faith is null and the promise is void.
What does it mean to be null? It means faith is no longer important. If today you rely on good actions, rely on keeping the law for God to bless you, then there is no need for faith. Then it goes on to say, "For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression." Where there is no law, what is there? There is God's grace! We are not under the law but under grace! Hallelujah!
Then it says, "It depends on faith." Today, you become a child of God; what does this child represent? Today, you are to inherit God's inheritance; you are to inherit God's blessings. It is by faith, not by the law, Amen!
"Therefore, it is based on grace." Everyone knows what grace is, right? You believe God is willing to bless you; this is grace. It is not based on your good actions that God blesses you today. It is because you believe in God, so God says this is based on grace, based on faith, so that the promise may be guaranteed to all offspring, because of God's grace, you believe God is willing to bless you; this is enough.
You see, today many people do not believe; for example, people in sickness say, "Oh, you see, my actions are not good, so God may not heal me." Do they believe God will heal them? They are uncertain; they want to believe but do not dare to believe. Why do they not dare to believe? They look back and see, "Look, I have not done well." It is precisely because of this kind of faith that they have no faith because they rely on their actions.
If today we come before God and say, "Lord, I believe You will heal me because it is not based on my actions, it is not because of what I have done, but because of Jesus, so You are willing to bless me." It is because of one person that God is willing to heal us today, willing to bless us, willing to help us; do you not have faith then?
It goes on to say, not only to those who are of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham. Do you know that Abraham has two kinds of offspring? Which two? Ishmael and Isaac! That’s right, Ishmael is the offspring who lives by actions, and Isaac is the offspring who lives by faith. So Abraham has two kinds of offspring, one like the stars in the sky and one like the sand by the sea.
Is the sand by the sea valuable? You know, Ishmael's offspring is like the sand by the sea, numerous. And Abraham's other offspring, like the stars in the sky. Do you know what the stars in the sky do? In the darkness, the stars in the sky can bring light and guidance to people.
So today we need to know: do we belong to the sand by the sea? Or to the stars in the sky? The stars in the sky! The moon itself has nothing to boast about; it merely reflects the light. It illuminates those in darkness in this world, Amen! So for us, we are such stars; we need to bring some light to others. Therefore, for us, no matter how great our ability is, we are merely doing things through Jesus Christ; thus, we bring light to others, we bring power to others, we bring authority to others. This is Abraham's other offspring, all received by faith, Amen!
So "that the promise may be guaranteed to all offspring" refers to those who share the faith of Abraham. How did Abraham believe in God? The book of Romans tells us very clearly that Abraham believed in the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. What was originally nonexistent, impossible, Abraham said: I believe God can do it. This is his faith, Amen! Should we think like this?
Do not say: "Oh, I feel this matter is not easy to handle." You only think so; it does not mean God thinks so. Today, because of Jesus, your sins have been removed; always remember: what has Jesus accomplished for you on the cross? Jesus has cleansed your sins, so in God's eyes, you are now holy, perfect, without blemish, an heir, and can inherit the inheritance.
So when you get up in the morning, you should declare to yourself: Today, I will surely receive God's blessings, not because of my good actions, but because I am God's heir, because of what Jesus has done for me, I can inherit the inheritance. So I believe that when I get up in the morning, I say, "In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray for this business of mine, because I am God's heir, and God will bless me, not because I am so good, but because of what Jesus has done for me." Hallelujah!
Do you know how many people today tell us what? "Before God heals you, you must first clean yourself up," "Before God heals you, you must first be someone who pleases God, and then God will heal you."
Then we say, "Well, I must strive to become someone who pleases God." You find that no matter how hard you try, you cannot make God pleased with you; you will always find that you have errors, that you have transgressions, right? In this kind of situation, it is still under the law, meaning relying on actions for God to bless you; this is very bad.
If it were based on our actions, then that woman with the issue of blood would have had no chance to be healed, right? Because according to the law, if you have an issue of blood, you are already unclean, and you cannot walk among the crowd; you cannot get close to people; this is not supposed to happen. But this woman did not get healed by the law, did she? She broke the law by squeezing into the crowd, you know? But when she squeezed into the crowd and touched Jesus, Jesus healed her; she was not healed by the law but by faith, Amen!
Because according to the regulations of the Levitical law at that time, a woman with an issue of blood could not appear in public places and could not touch other people because she would defile others. Do you understand? But did Jesus say, "Woman, you should not be here"? Jesus turned around and said, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Did Jesus say, "Look at you, from head to toe, you are full of leprosy; why did you come near me? Do you think someone like you is worthy to come before me?" Have you heard such rhetoric in the past? You think someone like you is worthy to worship God? What have you done for God? Look at what you did last week! Then this person would not want to seek to worship God anymore. Jesus is not like this, which is why so many people are willing to come and listen to Jesus preach, also hoping to heal their diseases, Amen!
In fact, here, "many people" refers to thousands of people gathering on the mountain. Do you think these people have nothing to do? Is it not good in the magnificent synagogue that took forty-six years to build? Why do they not go there? Why do you climb the mountain? Are you a sick person? You have nothing to do, and you climb the mountain? Have you noticed that today the gospel we preach is particularly similar to this? Why do you run so far to come here? Why do you not go to that big church next to you? Why do you come here? Do you understand? People are willing to go far to hear such a word.
The reason is simple: when we preach Jesus, He does not condemn your sins, accepts you, and lets you focus only on Jesus Christ, Amen! So Jesus went up the mountain, and they also went there to gather. Do you think these people went up the mountain thinking it would be fun, to celebrate, or to picnic? Were they there for that? No, they were there to seek Jesus Christ.
So many people came to hear the word; you see, Luke 5:15 says, many people gathered to do what? To hear the word, Amen! So I believe you gather not for anything else but to hear the word, hallelujah! Then it says, "and also hoped to heal their diseases." So remember: there must be an order, first hear the word, then receive healing. Hear the word, receive healing; hear the word, receive healing.
Many people reverse this; they do not want to hear the word but want to receive healing. You will find that these people always have many problems. Today, many people just hope the pastor will go to their home and pray for them but are unwilling to hear the word; this is a problem. Why do we always emphasize: let’s start by hearing the word? Because when you hear the word, faith will arise from within you. If you only let others pray for you, your faith comes from others; that is temporary.
For example, if you have a problem today and say: pray for me. Good, you are healed. What if you have a problem again later? Will you still call me? Will you still look for me? But if I say: If you receive healing from the word, the next time you have a problem, go listen to the word; anywhere you go, you can receive.
So I tell everyone it is a method; why do I always encourage people to hear the word first? The reason is here: In the process of hearing the word, you receive healing directly from Jesus, and the power may be greater than that of a certain pastor because it comes directly from Jesus, Amen!
So the crowd gathered to hear the word, not just to receive healing; initially, they heard the word, and then received healing; this is how God works, Amen! So remember this principle: First hear the word, then receive healing. Receiving healing means receiving everything you need, hallelujah! So today we also want to promote this principle; if the people around you need it, let them hear the word first, and then faith will arise from this word, and they can receive directly from God, hallelujah!
In Luke 6:17-19, let’s read this together. Earlier, we read from Luke 5; now we are in Luke 6, and you will find that there are some similarities we need to uncover. Let’s read together:
Luke 6:17-19
17 And He came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases. And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. 19 And all the crowd sought to touch Him, for power came out from Him and healed them all.
In chapter five, the people went up the mountain to hear the word; when He came down, the people followed Him, and from all Judea, Jerusalem, Tyre, and Sidon, very far away, these people came from far away to hear Jesus preach and also hoped to heal their diseases.
It goes on to say, "And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all the crowd sought to touch Him."
What is the reason?
There is power in Jesus; the Bible says that when Jesus preached, "power came out from Him and healed them all." In other words, many people were healed during the process of hearing the word; this has already been realized. Many people have been healed while listening to my sermon recordings; this is not a small number. This is why we always emphasize that you should start by hearing the word.
Many people are like this; during the process of hearing the word, Jesus' power is released, and then they are healed, hallelujah! In this way, we receive directly from God; there should not be any other intermediaries involved because we are already under the New Covenant. And what is the purpose of our preaching? To bring you before Jesus so that you can receive directly from Him, Amen!
"Power came out from Him." Did He heal only a part of the people? Did He heal only those with mild illnesses? He healed everyone. Did you notice? This is the power of Jesus; He does not care what kind of illness you have. You ask, were there people with colds? Yes. Were there people with terminal illnesses? Yes.
Did Jesus say, "Those with colds stand aside, those with terminal illnesses stand aside, and then say to those with colds, 'You are healed,' and they say, 'Good,' and go back healed; then to the cancer patients, 'You need to wait; I will pray for you in three days'?"
Do you think today we have complicated Him? In our church, we see a sister say, "Oh, I have a headache; Pastor, pray for me." He says, "Okay, in the name of Jesus Christ, you are healed." She says, "Okay." We think this is a simple headache, right? Suddenly someone says, "Pastor, I am a cancer patient, already in the late stage." He says, "Quick, quick, quick, everyone come over, let’s fast and pray for him."
Have you seen such things? It seems that in our view, we say: this cancer needs more effort from God, so we all need to work hard together. In fact, you see how this passage says? "Power came out from Him and healed them all." It does not matter how serious your illness is; what matters is how powerful your healer is! Hallelujah!
So, we need to receive faith through hearing the word; we do not care whether it is a cold or cancer. When you have God's faith, a cold and cancer are the same in God's eyes, the same healing method, Amen!
But why do we need faith? Because we, by nature, tend to be rational; we lean towards the law; we always feel that a cold is easy, but cancer is not easy. In fact, in God's view, these two are the same. So what do we need to do? Listen to the words of Christ repeatedly. You say, I have already heard that sermon; what about it? Listen to it again. Listen repeatedly; it will generate power, it will generate faith, Amen!
Do not say, "Oh, I have heard this word before." You say, have we read the Bible and do not need to read it again? You will find that every day you read, there will always be new provisions for you. And hearing the word is the same; when you listen to the word repeatedly, there will always be new provisions for you because we are talking about Jesus Christ, Amen!
For us, even if you have already heard it, you still need to listen repeatedly because when you encounter problems, your first reaction is important. Always remember, when a sudden event occurs in your life, your first reaction is your true faith.
For example, in the middle of the night, if your child suddenly has a high fever, your first reaction is: No, we need to go to the hospital quickly. Your first reaction is not that I am saying you cannot go to the hospital; your first reaction determines what your faith is. If this sudden event happens, and you immediately think: In the name of Jesus Christ, let this problem be completely solved. This is also your faith. Do you understand?
Your first reaction is actually a manifestation of your true faith. If you think negatively, your heart is filled with fear; this is also your faith. For example, you see this child like this, convulsing: No, no, no, we cannot delay any longer, we cannot delay any longer...
When you have become anxious, flustered, and fearful, you are actually no longer in faith. So what should you do at this time? According to your current faith, hurry to the hospital; do not hold on. For example, you quickly call the pastor: "Pastor, my child has started convulsing; what should I do?" If the pastor says, "Hurry and pray; do not go to the hospital, just pray." This would harm the person because he (the child's family) has no faith; do you understand?
In this situation, what should you do? Hurry to the hospital! If he says, "What should I do?" you say, "Hurry to the hospital." Because when he asks you what to do, he has already lost faith. Do you understand? At this time, you tell him: On the way to the hospital, just pray while walking.
So do not impose our faith on others; they may not be able to bear it, do you understand? This is why God has set up doctors and medicines. Today, many people say, "Since God is omnipotent, we can just pray directly!" Not everyone has this faith, nor can everyone bear this faith, so God has set up different people with different faiths to receive healing in different ways.
Some people say: I just happen to go to the hospital, and the doctor can heal me; this is also a kind of faith. Some people say: I just need to take medicine to be healed; this is also faith. You must remember: no matter where the faith is, no matter which way you receive it, always place your gaze ultimately on Jesus.
The reason is simple: you say taking medicine to be healed, is that God's healing? Yes. Can you be healed just by taking it? Is this a human method? Today, can everyone be healed just by taking medicine? No. God must work through this; you say, "Lord, I now have faith in the medicine."
What do you pray? "Lord, let me be healed through this medicine," do you understand? He can be healed; perhaps it is a very simple medicine, and he can be healed. But today, if many people take it but do not digest it, can they be healed? They do not absorb it! Is it not the same that they cannot be healed?
So no matter which aspect we come from, we must establish our faith in Jesus; Jesus is our faith, hallelujah! If you say: I often have fear and worry, what should I do? Listen to the word repeatedly; please remember: listen to the word repeatedly. If your heart is filled with fear, it is because of the devil's power, or you are uncertain about God; what should you do? How to generate faith? Let the words of Jesus Christ fill your heart; the method is very simple: listen to the word, read the Bible.
You say, I cannot read it; then start by listening to the word, listen repeatedly, and faith will naturally arise, hallelujah!
Acts 14:8-14
8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul speaking, and Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, 10 said in a loud voice, "Stand upright on your feet." And he sprang up and began walking.
Do you remember what condition this man was in? He was crippled from birth, proving he had never walked. So how did this man suddenly generate faith? When Paul went to Lystra to preach the gospel, because he had just arrived in this place, he went to a place with many people to preach the gospel. This crippled man must have lived by begging, right? He would definitely look for a place with many people, and just happened to be in this place. Paul kept preaching, kept preaching; perhaps this batch of people had heard it and left, and then new people came.
So Paul kept preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, preaching and preaching. Other people said, "I have heard this before; I do not want to hear it again," and they left. Who could not leave? The crippled man. Why could he not leave? Because he could not walk; it was not that he did not want to walk; do you understand? He also wanted to walk, but how could he? He had never been able to walk; he had no ability to move forward, so he could only listen. Do you understand?
So many times, we feel that listening to the word is a tedious thing. Remember: even if you do not want to listen, as long as you listen, it will always be beneficial to you. So what about this crippled man? He listened repeatedly, listened, listened... Perhaps he could recite what Paul preached; suddenly, faith arose.
You see how it says later, "Paul looked intently at him, seeing that he had faith to be made well," this proves that during the process of listening to the word repeatedly, faith was generated; he felt that he could be healed, that the God Paul preached was so powerful! This God could heal me! So Paul loudly said, "Stand upright on your feet," and this man not only stood up but jumped up.
Did you see that, brothers and sisters? So when we are weak, when we do not want to hear the word, that is actually when you should hear the word the most. You say, I do not want to listen; what should I do? Good, very simple; now there are mobile phones and players, right? You can play it and let it play in that place; even if one sentence enters your ears, it will be beneficial to you.
Listen repeatedly, and faith will arise; the method of healing is actually this simple; the method to overcome your environment is actually this simple, Amen! As long as you listen to the word repeatedly, listen to the gospel about Jesus Christ, you will generate faith because your faith will grow and overcome all your environments. Hallelujah! So this week, no matter what you encounter, I wish for you to prioritize listening to the word, listening repeatedly, letting the words of Christ fill your hearts, and you can overcome any environment.
Let us pray together:
Heavenly Father, we especially thank and praise You! Thank You for this time, allowing us to share Your words here. Through Your words, You have conveyed Your faith to us today, letting me know that in the process of hearing the word, faith is generated. Our faith comes from the words of Christ; by continually hearing the words of Christ, Your faith will fill my heart.
As the new week begins, I will no longer fear the journey ahead because You are with me. Today, I can receive Your blessings, not because of my good actions, but because of Your love for me, Jesus; You accomplished all this on the cross for me, allowing me to receive Your abundant blessings.
This week, I am in Your blessings; I am a blessed person. I pray for my work, for my family, for my business; I know You will bless me because I have stood in Your blessed place, and I will also be a blessing to others. Through me, let Your blessings be brought to more people, allowing them to see the glory of Christ in me. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!