New City Church Friday Night Light Faith, Hope and Love – The Eternal Characteristics of Life 4.24.2015
I.
Faith, Hope, and Love a. Faith, Hope, and Love are eternal characteristics of Life b. Faith has always been a requirement for pleasing God. Even in Heaven faith will still be required.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. 1 Corinthians 13:9-13 (NLT) Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. 11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly , like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. c. Adam and Eve led all of creation into death by losing hope, faith, and then love d. Adam and Eve were supposed to live in FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE. e. Faith is tangible Confidence in the moment (Now) that God is a good father and that His leadership is actually powerful to transform the physical to agree with the supernatural vision of God: Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. f.
Hope = is confidence for the future that God’s leadership WILL satisfy our desire. It is a vision of, or the DESIRE for, the life God calls “very good”
1 John 3:2-3 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (3) And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. g. Love is the willingness to submit to God’s leadership that is empowered and made vibrant and joyful by faith and hope! 2 John 1:6 This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. h. FaithHopeLoveFAITH… Faith grows in this process: hearing God’s instruction and believing it, choosing confidence that God’s instruction is taking us where we want to go, and then obeying God’s instruction and seeing our faith answered with a growing testimony of obeying God actually working. Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. i.
Jesus said without this interaction…a conversation with God that leads us…we cannot bear fruit.
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New City Church Friday Night Light Faith, Hope and Love – The Eternal Characteristics of Life 4.24.2015
John 15:5-6 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. j.
Faith produces the fruit of transformation. It makes the physical agree with the supernatural
Matthew 21:19-22 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, "Let no fruit grow on you ever again." Immediately the fig tree withered away. 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither away so soon?" 21 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' it will be done. 22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive." II.
The breaking and fading away of “very good” a. Adam and Eve needed faith – confidence that God’s leadership was good – even though they lived in an open heaven. b. God assigned the role of dominion…developing and subduing the earth to abide under God’s leadership … or transformation… to mankind (forever). This required faith in a growing experience and relationship with God. (Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 2:18-20) c. This was only possible by the connection of the Holy Spirit:
Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. d. Mankind is ‘triune’ like God. Made in His image: body, soul/heart – mind, will, and emotion e. Our body is like a chasis, our heart is like our circuitry, and our spirit is the connection (think USB port) to God. f. At the enticing of the serpent, Adam and Eve “fell” by choosing to disconnect from God’s leadership. This broke faith (confidence that God’s leadership was good), hope (a vision of life as defined by God), and love (obedience). Genesis 3:5-6 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (6) So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. g. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was a choice to explore a different vision of life than what God called very good. Adam and Eve already knew “good”…for only God is good and they knew God. To eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was to choose a vision of life ABSENT good…absent God…which is evil. Life is not possible apart from God. Adam and Eve’s choice was for death…existing apart from life, which is only possible in the presence of God. h. Adam and Eve not only chose death for themselves and their off-spring, they rejected God’s leadership and introduced evil, the absence of God, or darkness, to creation through their dominion. By choosing a vision of life apart from God Adam and Eve’s “broke” not just their bodies, but the actual land:
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New City Church Friday Night Light Faith, Hope and Love – The Eternal Characteristics of Life 4.24.2015
Genesis 3:17-19 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. (18) Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. (19) In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return." i.
The manifest reality of the kingdom on earth began to fade away. The kingdom will re-emerge in the same way it faded..by the desire of mankind for leadership…it will emerge from a DESIRE to see Jesus come home:
Luke 17:20-24 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." 22 Then He said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, 'Look here!' or 'Look there!' Do not go after them or follow them. 24 For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. j.
III.
Jesus is orchestrating a desire (prayer) movement in the earth. It has 21 steps: 7 seals, 7 trumpets, and 7 bowls
The coming kingdom a. Desire realized will judge the earth in the last generation. b. Everyone gets what they want, and in the final 7 years of human history, God will lift his hand of restraint from the desire of mankind. This will allow the wheat and tares to both mature. The wheat will mature in the greatest outpouring of faith by the connection of the Spirit being magnified, and the tares will mature into the worst rebellion (the maturing of the antichrist spirit) the earth has ever witnessed:
2 Thessalonians 2:1-9 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, c. The Bible tells the story of God using the desire of mankind to bring forth the kingdom by the dominion of mankind….by the connection of the Spirit to release the leadership of God into the heart of man. God is searching for those who desire the connection:
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New City Church Friday Night Light Faith, Hope and Love – The Eternal Characteristics of Life 4.24.2015
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars." d. David was one the eyes of the Lord landed on: 1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. e. David learned to spend all of His desire on God, and what He ended up with was geography changing faith. David transformed Jerusalem from a small Jebusite city into the city of desire for God…the temple of God…and the place to which the desire of the Nations, Jesus, will come to rule the earth. David saw that THIS desire would keep Him safe as the kingdom emerged: Psalms 27:1-6 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. 3 Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, In this I will be confident. 4 One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple. 5 For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. 6 And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD. f.
Jesus will return when the city of Jerusalem DESIRES Him:
Luke 13:34-35 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!' " g. This is a direct reference to a prophecy in Psalm 118, the story of God shaking Jerusalem among the nations…sifting her desire. The entire earth…every nation…will be shaken at the same time. We are witnessing this just beginning now: Amos 9:8-11 "Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, And I will destroy it from the face of the earth; Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob," Says the LORD. 9 "For surely I will command, And will sift the house of Israel among all nations, As grain is sifted in a sieve; Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. 10 All the sinners of My people shall die by the sword, Who say, 'The calamity shall not overtake nor confront us.' 11 "On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old;
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