MATURITY IN FAITH

Romans chapter 8










Today we are walking in: Maturity In Faith










Proverbs 20:6



Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful H529 man who can find?





FAITH





Today we look to the word FAITH-- H529- emuwn--faithfulness, trusting, faithful









The Torah testifies...............




Deuteronomy 32:20



And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith H529











The prophets proclaim..................



Habakkuk 2:4



Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith H529.











The writings bear witness............

*******













Maturity in Faith













That’s why we talk big, and then when trouble comes, we run.




In other words, maturity is measured by pressure, stress, and sometimes even moments of confusion. How do you handle it? Immature people collapse under stress. They give up under pressure. They quit when things get tough. That’s immaturity.




This is one of the reasons why a lot of marriages fail, because people believe that marriage should only have good times. Somehow, they’ve got this picture in their minds that they got from romance books, or wherever they get them from, that there are no problems when you get married, there is no stress, and there is no difficulty.




Even when you start a business, we have the same feeling. “Boy, when I get my business going, I’m going to be free from working. I’m going to get my own job, get my own business.” Then, all of a sudden, when the pressure comes for business, you realize, “I better go back and work for somebody.”




How mature are you?




The key to effective living is your capacity to handle and manage, first of all, the expected, but also the unexpected.




Things happen suddenly. How do you react? Reaction is a telltale sign of what you are made out of. We normally react to the unexpected. When you expect something, you kind of prepare for it, and you can handle that a little bit better. But what happens when something happens that you didn’t plan on? How do you manage that?




Also, success—and everybody wants to be successful in life—but to be successful in life, this is measured by your ability to maintain personal balance in the midst of turmoil.




I have a little saying that I lived by for a long time, and that is, “Since I won’t worry, you can worry for me.”




Say that.




You know, a lot of people worry for you, so why should you join in?




Keeping balance means that you believe what Elohiym said more than what you see.




I’m talking to you from the Ruach Ha’Qodesh. This goes into your whole life.




The greatest revelations in my life always came out of moments of great unexpected acts. That’s when Elohiym reveals Himself to you in a fresh new way, because you need to handle new environments. So He gives you new faith.




What is faith? Belief.




Keeping balance is a sign of maturity.




This third point is very simple, but it’s kind of revealing. This is good for you to remember: maturity is measured by your capacity to respond to tragedy. How do you handle chaos when everything collapses and everything is not going right? What happens in that moment is a sign of your maturity.




You can always tell a person’s maturity by how they handle pressure.




This is good for you when you’re even making friends with people, like developing friendships. Any kind of friendship—you want to see that person under pressure. This especially goes to those who may even be thinking of marriage, especially, because people are what they really are when they are under stress.




Let me say it another way: you don’t know who a person really is until chaos.




This is why you shouldn’t believe everything everybody says in good times.




“I love you. I’ll never leave you. I’ll never forsake you.”




That’s exactly what Kepha told Yahusha, remember? And Yahusha said, “Uh-oh.” He said, “Now Satan just demanded you to be tested by those words.”




In good times, it’s easy to say, “I’m with you, girl. You’re my girl. Yes, sir.” It’s nice in good times, but that cannot be tested until things ain’t going right between you two. When things don’t work out, this is how you measure your maturity.




Pa’al talks a lot about maturity. I’m going to show you some Scripture tonight that may shock you.




Let’s take a look at Ivrim 12:28. This is one of the verses we left off with yesterday. It says, “Therefore, since we have received, or are receiving, present tense, a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and also worship Elohiym acceptably with reverence and fear,” or awe.




I was intrigued. Still, I’m intrigued over the years by the way the Muslims handle persecution. Islam is so weak that it cannot handle cartoons. I don’t know if you ever think about that. Here’s a man in, I think it was Switzerland or somewhere, who drew some cartoons about Muhammad, and they put a death threat on his life.




How many things have people said about Yahusha? How many times did they use Yahusha for curse words? How many times did they say that He was a homosexual, that He used to sleep with Yahuchanon, that He was in love with Miryam, and that He was married to Magdalene?




It doesn’t bother us. We don’t fight over it. We don’t create no big hassle. Why? Because Yahusha cannot be shaken. If your prophet is as strong as a cartoon, your faith must be weak.




Are you with me? That’s an important statement.




Kingdom means government. The country of Heaven and the government it represents cannot be shaken.




Sometimes we forget what this Kingdom has already been through. Sometimes we forget that this Kingdom has been through worse things than you see it going through in your lifetime. It’s been through everything you could dream of, and it still emerges victorious.




I trust my King. I don’t trust Him because He said to trust Him. I trust Him because He’s proven Himself. He’s stable.




Praise Elohiym.




Do you realize that death couldn’t kill Yahusha? It’s a stable Kingdom. What you are a part of is unshakable.




“Let nothing move you,” Pa’al says.




Our Kingdom is unshakable. HalleluYah.




You know, I’ve got nothing else to believe. I’m not looking for an alternative belief system. It’s too late for me. I have already met the final issue, and that is the Kingdom of Elohiym, Yahusha Ha’Mashiach the King. That’s it. Nothing else to seek. He can’t turn me away from Him.




As a matter of fact, let’s look at another Scripture I thought was interesting. Tas’loniqiym Sheniy 1 says, “We ought always to thank Elohiym for you, brothers, rightly, because your faith is growing more and more.”




What is growing more and more? It’s important. He didn’t say your church attendance. You can attend church for twenty years under BFM and still not have your faith grow. It’s your faith we teach to grow. We teach so your faith can grow.




Faith comes by what? Hearing. And hearing what? The Word of Elohiym.




In other words, you build your faith by coming together to hear the Word of Elohiym.




I came here to speak tonight. I’ve been thinking about you all day. I said, “Elohiym, there’s nothing else I can give anyone than the Word of Elohiym. I can’t sleep with you. I can’t live with you. I can’t make decisions for you. But I can give you the Word of Elohiym.”




And the Word of Elohiym builds faith. It gives you your belief system to keep you through the tough times.




Look at what Pa’al says here again. He says, “And the love every one of you have for one another.” Why? Because faith worketh by love. You need to have love. You need to have faith. Care for one another.




“Therefore, among Elohiym’s assemblies, we boast about your perseverance and your faith.”




Wouldn’t it be great for people to know you, not for what you avoided, but for what you made it through?




I’m going to say that again.




He’s saying, “Look, we brag on what you survived.” Not only good things that happened to you. We tell the whole world about this group of people who show their tenacity and their perseverance by what they came through.




I think about Gloria Seymour. Pastor Gloria—I don’t talk much about these kinds of things, okay? But it’s people like them that keep me going. People like Pastor Gloria.




Pastor Gloria came to this ministry early 1980s—’80, ’81, I think, around there—and her husband wasn’t saved. Her husband used to work at Balmoral Beach Hotel, and then we eventually got there through her because she connected us to him. Then we went there, and BFM was the first church in the hotel. Of course, we were the cult. That’s still at that time. We were the cult.




I watched her husband grow into faith. I watched him become one of our elders, and then we discovered he had cancer. We prayed and prayed, and Yahuah extended his life for many years, and then he died.




And this woman is stronger now than before he died.




I’m not impressed by you who got your wife and your husband already living. When you lose them and you’re still going, man, that’s faith. I could brag about this woman’s faith in Elohiym.




Now, she could have said, “If Elohiym doesn’t heal my husband, then healing doesn’t work. Oh, ain’t no use for me praying anymore because prayer doesn’t work.” She could have said that.




But if your faith is in the acts of Elohiym rather than Elohiym Himself, then you lose your faith when the acts don’t work.




But her faith is in Elohiym. Put it another way: her faith is in the Elohiym of her faith.




What’s your faith in?




So I brag about her. I talk to people. I say, “Look, there are some folks in my assembly. Man, when I think about them, I tell you, I’ve been through nothing compared to what they’ve been through, and they’re still preaching, teaching, standing strong, leading people.”




Pa’al says, “I boast about your faith. I boast about your perseverance and all your persecutions.”




Now, this assembly is not our assembly. This belongs to Yahusha Ha’Mashiach. He says, “I will build My assembly.” I don’t need you to build My assembly for Me. He says, “And you are lively stones in the wall.”




Each one of us is a living stone building up this most holy place for Elohiym to dwell.




So our faith should be our reputation.




What is faith? Believing.




We still believe.




I said this on Sunday yesterday, and I’ll say it again. This is really interesting to me: everyone we know in the Bible, we know them because of what they went through.




Think about anyone in the Bible. Hadassah—my Elohiym, she took a chance. Remember the story? If you go before the king without permission, you get your head cut off. She says, “If I die, I die.” Then she went inside.




Now we know Hadassah as being this awesome woman, but see that moment when she’s going in there. See, you don’t want to be Hadassah. You could lose your head.




Can I suggest to you that Heaven’s hall of fame is a hall of fame of faith?




You read Ivrim chapter 8. Yes, it talks about faith, all that good stuff. Then in chapter 11, it talks about what faith is. Then in chapter 12, it tells you all these guys who are in the hall of fame.




You know what makes you famous in the Kingdom of Elohiym? Not the pictures they take of you, or the articles in the magazines, or all the stuff they give you, or the plaques, or the PhD.




What makes you famous in Heaven is what you made it through.




And we’re going to come through everything Elohiym allows to come our way, because we are gaining a spot on the wall of Heaven for our face to be put. Elohiym is going to say, “This is one of them.”




HalleluYah.




I gave you a statement yesterday. I hope you put it on your wall by your mirror where you fix your hair, and that is this: my faith is only as strong as what it survives.




Say it.




Tell your neighbor, “Pray for my faith, please.”




Fame comes from faith. Write it down. Fame in Heaven comes from faith. In the Kingdom of Elohiym, you become famous based on the testing of your faith.




Avraham is called the father of faith because he had probably the toughest test. The guy was seventy-five, and Elohiym said, “You can have a baby.” And the baby didn’t come until twenty-five years later, at one hundred.




Now, you know. Come on, let’s think about this a minute. No, let’s stop thinking about it.




I mean, you can imagine this guy trying for twenty-five years. Matter of fact, he was married long before that, so they were trying to have a baby all his life. Sarah was considered barren. He was considered impotent, dried up. The Bible, of course, will tell you he was dried up. He had nothing.




Elohiym says, “You can have a baby.”




His faith dipped a little bit when his wife said, “Look, okay, let’s try the maid.” And Elohiym came back and said, “No. I said you and Sarah. So go back and try again.”




I don’t know about you, but I guess he’s ninety-nine years of age. Come on now. Come on, Sarah. Come, child, let’s go. It’s nine o’clock.




The Bible says Avraham believed Elohiym. That’s all. He didn’t believe in what he didn’t see happen, because that could discourage you. He just believed Elohiym.




Everybody say, “I believe what Elohiym told me.”




That’s right. No matter what’s happening around you, you’ve got to believe what Elohiym told you.




Your senior pastor believes in the vision of this ministry. Elohiym has already been faithful. He gave us this land when we had no land: 18.1 acres, block to block. We had nothing. We had three hundred people or less.




He gave us this building. It’s worth millions. We still don’t know how we built this building. Then we bought these chairs. We still don’t know how we bought these chairs. We’ve been on TV since 1984, and we’re still on TV. Don’t know how.




I believe Elohiym, no matter how the circumstances look.




Faith is believing what Elohiym said.




Here’s something. The next verse says, Pa’al says, “All this is evidence that Elohiym’s judgment is right, and as a result, you will be counted worthy of the Kingdom of Elohiym.”




Everybody say, “Worthy.”




In other words, you should not—can I say it another way? This is very deep. He says persecution, trials, perseverance, endurance—all of them are things that make you worthy to live as a citizen.




Can I put it another way? We think that when we follow Yahusha, life’s supposed to be easy. He said, “No, no, no. When you are in the Kingdom of Elohiym, we prove how good the Kingdom is by what it survives.”




It keeps coming through. HalleluYah.




Why does Elohiym heal some people and not heal some other people? I have no idea. But according to this verse, it has something to do with making you Kingdom-worthy.




Let me tell you something. Some folks ain’t worth giving a testimony yet. If you ain’t broke yet, you don’t know how it feels to tell plenty. Can I hear an amen?




Now, I couldn’t figure out as a child why Elohiym took Yoceph, a prince. The guy was wealthy, a prince, and put him in jail. Why would Elohiym take Mosheh, who’s also a prince of Mitsrayim, and make him a convict?




Because He just wants to make sure that you know how it feels to have nothing. So when you start testifying, you can say, “I remember.”




See, some folks think I don’t remember. I don’t have good times all the time.




Your worth in the Kingdom of Elohiym is tied to perseverance, trials, endurance.




Can you endure a little bit longer what you’re going through? Just make it through it, praise Elohiym.




Imagine what people would be able to say about you. The folks around you and your family, your work—they’re watching you.




Suppose you only have good stories to tell them, and they can say, “This Elohiym you’re serving is like Santa Claus. He’s like a big Ferris wheel or something.”




But when they watch you go through hell and come out with no scent of smoke, and you’re still smiling, they can say, “I want that kind of Elohiym.”




You know that Yahusha said that when you build your house, you build it on rock. Fine. That’s the faith of Elohiym. He says, and the storm comes on both of the houses: the house that’s on sand and the one that’s on rock. He said the same storm hits both.




I think that’s important, because sometimes we think, “Well, if I’m on the rock, I ain’t got no storm.”




No. The Kingdom of Elohiym gets its integrity from the fact that you don’t collapse under pressure.




How strong are you?




Beryl, you’ve been with me a long time. You’ve been through a lot of stuff. Elohiym even made you adopt some kids. And man, you and Colin working at it, you know, and Elohiym said, “Boy, how did I get like this? All these mouths to feed.” Elohiym said, “Look, I’m watching your faith.”




It’s not what you escaped. It’s what you made it through that makes you respected in the Kingdom of Heaven.




“Worthy of the Kingdom of Elohiym, for which you are suffering.”




Here’s another one I thought was very interesting. Ya’aqov chapter 1. What are the results when your faith is tested? Let’s read this, Ya’aqov chapter 1. You want to find it in your Bible and underline it.




These are verses that Elohiym wants you to remember during this very significant moment in your life.




He says, “Consider it pure joy.”




Now this one, you know, I was a teenager when I read this one. This one helped me. I was like seventeen years old when I got this one. It made me very strong in my faith as a teenager.




It says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.”




Why? “Because you know.”




Now, first of all, you can’t face them if you don’t know something. That knowing is important. The knowledge gives you the capacity to have joy.




In other words, if you don’t know what this thing is doing to you, you’re going to be mad with Elohiym, mad with the devil, mad with your family, mad with everybody, mad with the assembly, mad with the pastor, mad with everybody.




Why? Because, “I don’t know what is happening to me.”




Elohiym said, “No, no, no, no, no. You’re supposed to know that when trials come, what do they do? They develop perseverance.”




In other words, every time you go through a period of hardship, something is being developed in you. In other words, the circumstance is losing, and you are winning in the process.




You never grow in good times.




You can tell when Elohiym’s ready for another jump in your life. He takes you through a little tough period because He’s getting ready for another leap in your life.




Give Elohiym a praise.




He’s going to develop something to make you worthy of His Kingdom.




Tell your neighbor, “I want to be known for what I made it through.”




Come on, say it again. “I want to be known for what I make it through.”




Now say it loud. “I want to be known for what I make it through.”




Exactly.




Your faith can handle anything the world throws at you. Amen.




Look at that. Powerful.




“Because you know.” What do you know? That the testing of your faith—what is faith? Belief.




When you start doubting, you say, “Oh my Elohiym, I believed You for this job, and I still didn’t get it yet.” You know, “I believe Elohiym.” He said, “I’m watching you.”




“But I prayed, and I believed that You were going to heal my baby, and the baby healed.” But believe. Elohiym said, “I’m watching you.”




I know that the testing of my belief is working in me perseverance.




Verse 4 says what? “And perseverance must finish its work.”




In other words, if you jump out of the test, Elohiym said, “You still have to go through that again. You don’t get out. You didn’t develop what you were supposed to develop in the first one. You ran out.”




So Elohiym, bam, hits you again. You ever wonder why you say, “Elohiym, when did it end?” Elohiym said, “Because you ain’t finished yet.”




HalleluYah.




You know, Bahamas Faith Ministries, as a ministry, we’ve gone through so much stuff. Right now, we’re in a period like everybody else, with financial challenges, and we believe in Elohiym that He’s going to bring us through and everything else. That’s part of it. You don’t panic.




Right now, you’ve got a little stress. Maybe you’ve got a little job problem. I just heard on the news tonight that the hotels are a little down, and they’re going to be giving people one- or two-day weeks. Some of y’all, that’s going to affect you if you’re a taxi cab driver, or maybe you work in a hotel or whatever.




You’re going to say, “Oh, Elohiym.”




Elohiym said, “Okay, relax. This ain’t about the economy. This now is about your belief. Do you believe I can bring you through this, and you don’t beg? Because you are the righteous, and I’ve never seen…”




It ain’t a matter about your salary. It’s a matter about your belief.




Do you still believe Elohiym in the furnace?




Say halleluYah.




If you believe Elohiym in the furnace, you can rejoice when you come out.




Let perseverance finish its perfect work.




You know, the worst thing to do with Elohiym is try to skip class. I had to learn it.




“Oh, Elohiym, is there an easier way?”




Elohiym said, “No. What I need to develop next requires this level of test.”




Let perseverance finish its work. Then it says, when it finishes its work, what’s going to happen? “Then you will be mature.”




See, maturity is a result of the test you survive.




So if you’re going through plenty, going through a lot of tests, that’s a sign that Elohiym’s figuring you’re immature right now. You’re not mature yet. You keep going through. And then every time you make it through a big one, you have a bigger one up ahead, because you’ve got to keep developing perseverance and maturity.




I remember I used to believe Elohiym for $100. Now I’ve got to believe Elohiym for a million dollars. Same belief. Boy, but the amount is big. I’ve got to believe Elohiym for this ministry. Millions of dollars.




We used to take up offerings here. I remember we used to be so excited. We got $240. You should look back at our minutes. Minutes in our ministry: 1982, ’84. Minutes. Offering: $200. We were so excited. Praise Elohiym. And the rent was $150.




Anyhow, you look and you say, “Elohiym, You are so wonderful.”




Then Elohiym gives you $200,000 a week to believe Him for. He said, “Believe Me for that.” He keeps taking you through bigger tests to develop higher maturity, so you don’t panic.




Because the day can come when I’ve got to believe Yahuah for a million dollars a week. When we build those buildings and start those schools and train all those leaders, we’re going to believe Elohiym for maybe $3 million a week.




So He takes you through each stage to build your faith. He ain’t got no problem. It’s getting you to believe that He will do it at that level that the test is for.




Praise Elohiym.




You will not be found wanting in anything.




Write this down, please.




Mosheh killed the Mitsriy. What a test. You know, when you do something dumb, Elohiym says, “Do you still believe Me after your dumbness?” You really messed up and did some crazy things. Elohiym says, “Hey, get your belief back.”




I think about Avraham. He slept with his maid. Elohiym said, “That’s okay. Get up and start again. Go sleep with Sarah. Why? Because I still can keep My word to you. The baby will come.”




So Avraham kept his faith, his belief.




I think about Yahusha. You know, Yahusha just came through the waters, man. Elohiym worked a miracle. Sometimes Elohiym works nice miracles for you to make you feel good. He used to get a bonus, right? Boom. That was a bonus.




They came through the Yarden River. Remember, they crossed the Yarden River. They got the singers up front. “Praise Yahuah.” They’re carrying the ark, and the priests behind them, and Yahusha, and everybody. Everyone going through the Yarden River.




As soon as they get on the other side, guess what? Big Jericho fight. And I hear Yahusha saying, “Oh, man. I thought we had relief.”




From test to test, we can come through every test Elohiym allows to come our way. And guess what? There can be another one up ahead.




So if you keep running because of tests, you better keep your running shoes on for the rest of your life.




Look at Daniy’el. We know about him, of course. Daniy’el was a man of Elohiym, believed in Elohiym, had faith in Elohiym, but yet he went into the lion’s den.




Your faith doesn’t protect you from tests. It takes you to them.




I’m going to say it again, because some of you say, “Well, I’ve got belief in Elohiym. Elohiym delivered me.” Yeah, He can deliver you from one to take you to the next one, because He knows that whatever you go through can’t harm you. He wants to prove that your faith that He gave you in His Word is stronger than any circumstance that can come.




Let me put it another way. Please listen and be careful, because I know when you’re coming through moments like this in our life, we begin to think, and we begin questioning Elohiym.




Don’t question Elohiym.




Listen. Being a Kingdom citizen doesn’t give you immunity from tests and trials. As a matter of fact, they increase tests and trials to prove that what you have is pure gold.




I was going to tell you a story yesterday, but I told you a different story yesterday. I was going to tell you this story yesterday.




I was watching National Geographic years ago, and they showed an elephant, this big elephant. They had the elephant lift his feet up, and they put a watch under the elephant’s feet. Then the circus guy who was controlling the elephant had the elephant lift up his legs on both sides, on just one leg, and that was the leg the watch was under. So here’s this tons of elephant weight on this watch.




I was intrigued.




Then when they took it out, they shook it. It was still working.




Then they took it, and they threw it in a bowl full of fire, and they timed it. Then they took it out, cooled it off, shook it. It was still working.




Then they took it, and they put it in a freezer, dry ice. Left it there for a period of time, took it out, shook it. It was still working.




At the end of the whole documentary, I realized that they were really showing what makes this watch so valuable. It was a Rolex.




At the end of it, they said, “You don’t buy Rolexes to tell time. You can buy a Timex for ten bucks to tell time. You buy a Rolex because you’re buying time.”




My wife bought me a Rolex years ago. It wasn’t an expensive one, but it’s nice. When I opened the box, the book was that thick in the box, little box. On the first page, it had like 1884. That’s how old the thing is. Then at the end of it, it says, “Lifetime guarantee. If anything goes wrong, we exchange it. No questions asked.”




So I’ve got a watch forever. Lifetime guarantee.




How can you guarantee something for life? Because they already figured out, you can’t hurt this watch. Elephants walked on this. It’s been in fire. It’s been in ice. It’s been in the North Pole. We threw this against the wall. Anything you do to this watch, it’ll survive.




So they put trust in the watch. So you buy the time under which it’s been under stress.




Listen, how much are you worth to Elohiym?




Worthy of the Kingdom.




How much worth? The worth comes from what you survive.




Daniy’el was a man of Elohiym. He was an excellent man with an excellent spirit, and the next thing, he’s in the lion’s den. Daniy’el prayed every morning. Every morning. Read the Bible. It says Daniy’el prayed every morning, and he was still in the lion’s den.




Not because you pray means Elohiym will let you go through problems.




This whole idea about, “If you get saved, anything will be okay,” is a lie.




When you come to Mashiach, He uses you to prove His worth to the world.




“Boy, y’all still standing there?”




“Yeah, boy, BFM still standing.”




“Am I as hard as that?”




“Yeah, but my head hard. I’ve been knocking my head so much, I can’t feel no more.”




That’s what tests do.




Iyov lost everything. We know Iyov.




Yahusha was betrayed by His best friend.




Do you know, I was thinking, sometimes the people closest to you hurt you the most. You cannot betray someone who didn’t trust you. Can you understand that? Betrayal is only possible where there was trust.




Did Yahusha quit? No.




And that same best friend committed suicide on His watch. Yahusha even predicted the guy was going to do it.




Shouldn’t He have felt guilty? Maybe He caused him to do it. Maybe He felt that way. He could have felt that way. Yahusha said, “No, do whatever you will. I ain’t taking responsibility for your decision.”




And He kept on going.




You may lose the best friend in your life, but you’ve got to get up and keep going.




Can I hear an amen?




You know, Pastor Barbara—I don’t talk that much. The reason why I appointed these people pastors is not because of medals, but because of scars.




When I first met Pastor Barbara, she was a single mother with a beautiful little daughter. She came to BFM. Her eyes opened by the Word. She became so hungry for the Word over twenty years ago, and she never sought leadership position. She volunteered to always help. Always volunteered.




“I want to help.”




She was the minister of hospitality before anyone asked her.




This woman was a single mother, working hard. She was at the bank when I first came here. At the bank, laboring to send her daughter through school, keeping herself pure. No man fooling with her. She was pure.




And I said, “This woman knows how to handle tests. That’s who you give authority to.”




Not your education. It’s the tests you survive.




I saw her take those teen-challenge responsibilities. I saw Barbara at two o’clock in the morning go into the streets, scraping up young girls out of the base houses, putting them in her car, smelling dirty, bringing them to church. They smelled bad. She sat right next to them. She wiped them. Took them to her house. Fed them.




And she went through a divorce. She’s got her own daughter, and she’s scraping up other people’s children.




This is the test of your faith.




And some people ain’t gone through nothing and complaining about Elohiym.




You wonder why Elohiym blesses people like that. You see them getting blessed. You don’t know what they went through. Don’t be jealous of them.




You are as mature as the test your faith survives.




What do you do when the family falls apart? Do you come back up and start swimming again? Or do you decide to just drown?




You know, Kepha and Yahudah fell into the water of life. Both of them couldn’t swim. Yahudah decided, “I’ll just drown.” Kepha said, “I’m going to tread water.” You’ve got to decide what you’re going to do. The one who treaded water became the leader.




I like what Yahusha said to Kepha. He says, “Satan will test you and sift you like wheat.” He says, “But when thou art converted, then you can strengthen your brothers.”




In other words, until you go through hell, you ain’t got nothing to say to me.




Oh, sorry. I might have hurt your feelings on that one. Okay, let me say it nice: until you go through a little difficulty, you really cannot talk to folks with conviction.




People come to me all the time. “Pastor Myles, I think y’all should do this. I think y’all ain’t doing this right.”




Listen, wait, wait, wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You’ve been here for three years. I’ve been here for thirty. How much do you think I survived in thirty years? All of a sudden, you’re smarter than me?




Pa’al says to Timotheus, “Do not choose anyone to be a leader who is a novice.”




A novice means someone who ain’t been through no test. Speaking in tongues ain’t no test. Singing well don’t impress Elohiym at all. He wants to know if you’ve got a song when everything falls apart.




Are you still singing?




Is your faith stronger than circumstances?




Look at this one. Pa’al. We know Pa’al okayed all those people to be killed, and Elohiym still used him. He came through the test.




Kepha denied Yahusha in prison, came out, became the leader.




Yahuchanon was marooned on the island. He talked about this.




But look at Timotheus Ri’shon 1:18. It says, “Timotheus, my son, I give you this instruction.”




Now watch this: “In keeping with the prophecies once made about you.”




In other words, some of us got prophecies from Elohiym. “Yahuah shall do this. Yahuah shall do that.” He said, “That’s fine. Good prophecies.”




Read the rest of it. He says, “So that by following them you may fight the good fight of faith.”




Fight the good fight.




What’s the good fight? Holding on to the faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith.




How do you shipwreck your faith? By rejecting what Elohiym told you. You stop believing. They have rejected the faith. Among them—and Pa’al lists some names of people who left him.




Elohiym have mercy.




Tell your neighbor, “I ain’t going nowhere. My faith is stronger than circumstances.”




Pa’al says, because they couldn’t handle the pressure, “I handed them over to the devil.”




Let me tell you something that Pa’al is saying. Pa’al says, “I don’t even think about them anymore.”




Sometimes people get the idea that you really are going to miss them. Your whole life is going to stop because they leave you. You ain’t going to never be able to be sane. You ain’t going to be able to continue if I leave you. You know, I’m the one that’s keeping you going.




Hey, Pa’al says, “I gave them over to the devil.” Really. “I gave them over to Satan, and I kept on going.”




There are people in your life who make you believe that they are yours. In them you live and have your being.




That’s what I’m talking about.




You’ve got to remember, your being is not in your job. It’s in Elohiym.




“My faith,” say it, “is in Elohiym.”




This is the mood tree here. I observe people quietly enough. Painful health. Breast cancer. Survived. Steady. Never miss the seat. Sitting there in the assembly, trusting Elohiym.




Woman’s got a book inside. She’s got a right to write a book.




See, some folks don’t write books; they get unsaved. You understand me? People get, “Hey, I want to write a book.” Yeah, what’s the book about? What is this book about? You ain’t been through nothing.




You qualify through the test. Say it. “The test qualifies you.”




Pa’al said you become worthy of the Kingdom through persecution, perseverance, trials, tests.




So do well on your tests, so Elohiym could put you on display.




I don’t know everybody here got a story. I know. But your story ain’t over. That’s what I’m trying to get you to say. It ain’t over. The chapter’s still coming.




You think things are going good.




Some people may have gotten offended on Sunday when I said you can lose everything. Let me explain what I mean by that. Either you’re going to lose it, or you’re going to lose you. One or the other. You can die and carry nothing with you.




So don’t hold on to nothing. Hold on to Elohiym.




Tell your neighbor, “I’m a user, not an owner.”




Elohiym wants you to use things and trust Him.




Pa’al said, “I gave them over,” because I ain’t hanging on to them. I ain’t feeling guilty with them leaving me.




Pa’al said, “Look, they couldn’t handle the pressure. I’m gone.”




They didn’t want to handle the test, he said.




Look at this one, Timotheus Ri’shon 6:11. Read: “But you, man of Elohiym.”




Who is Pa’al talking to now? Timotheus.




“But you, man of Elohiym, flee from all of this and pursue righteousness, reverence, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of what?”




Hey, that’s important. Don’t fight the devil. The devil is fighting something else. He’s fighting your belief system.




If Satan can get you to stop believing, he won.




I was thinking, Pastor Richard, about our friend, our dear friend we went to school with. Spent years with him. We loved this man: Carlton Pearson. You know, Carlton was one of our best friends.




Do you know what he lost? Faith.




What is faith? Belief.




When Satan can tamper with your belief, he destroys your life.




Let me tell you what I’m really trying to get you to do. Yahuah told me to come back and tell you as a people, and as a ministry, as an assembly: don’t believe Elohiym because of what He does for you, and don’t doubt Elohiym because of what He didn’t do for you.




You believe Elohiym because of who He is to you.




HalleluYah.




So he says, “Timotheus, fight the good fight of faith.”




I want you to talk to each other from now on at this level. Just talk to each other.




“You still believe Him?”




“What did you say?”




“Still believe Him?”




“Yeah, still believe Him.”




“Okay, let’s sit for a little while.”




Remember the Word that Elohiym says? Give them the Word. Remember the Word that Elohiym said? Give them the Word. Why? You’ve got to build your faith up.




Build up your faith, it says.




Faith comes by what? Hearing. And hearing the Word of Elohiym.




Because that’s the fight.




When you are weak, it’s because your belief is weak. That’s your weakness. Your strength is when your belief is strong.




Satan comes to sabotage your faith. So Pa’al says, “Fight.” And he said, “Take hold of eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many.”




In other words, you stand up in the assembly and say, “Yahuah is a good Elohiym.” Then you go inside, and He says, “Let me check that out.”




Read that verse.




He said, when you confess how good Elohiym is in your business, bam, something hits your business. He says, “Come on, keep believing now. You’ve got to keep believing what you told them in the public.”




“My Elohiym shall supply.”




Okay, you broke now though.




“I still believe. My Elohiym shall supply.”




Do you know that the disciples were with Yahusha? Listen to this carefully now. I think strange, you know. I think simple, man.




The disciples were with Yahusha, and they ran out of tax money.




Wait a minute. You are with Elohiym, and the place ran dry. You are with Elohiym. Elohiym let the place run dry.




Why are you checking? Why are you checking?




How do you react when the place is empty? What are you watching? Why?




You know there is a fish right there with the food and money in the mouth. But He is checking to see if you can handle the empty place for a couple of minutes.




Come on, glory, halleluYah.




Can you handle when nothing is around?




“Where is Elohiym? Pastor Myles, I’m preaching. It don’t work.”




Wait a minute, it works. I’m checking your attitude. What do you do when there is no money?




“I still believe Elohiym. I still prepare the table and get the pot and turn the stove on, waiting for something to come in. I’ve got to believe Elohiym.”




HalleluYah, sister.




He let the place run dry.




I told you before, and I mean it: if anybody should have quit, that is why I’m here, standing here, because I can tell you, you’re going to be alright.




If He did it for me, and for Avraham, and Ya’aqov, and Esau, and Yitschaq, and Daniy’el, you are in line for yours. He’s going to bring you through.




This Elohiym we serve is not an Elohiym who can only handle things when they are good.




So when you make confession before people, get ready for the test.




Another verse. Pa’al says, “I have fought a good fight.”




What is the fight?




He said, “I have finished my race.”




What is the race?




“I have kept my faith.”




He said, that is the fight, and that is the race. The race is to believe to the end, and the fight is to believe until you win.




Can I say it again? The race is to believe to the end, and the fight is to believe until you win.




My friends, oh my children, listen to me. It’s not how you talk big now. Ten years from now, are you still going to be a believer? That’s the question.




That is what inspires me about these wonderful leaders. When I watch them go through the test, and they go through tests I’m going through, and their faith in the Word is strong, I say, “Elohiym, I can handle that too then. If they can make it, I can make it.”




A complaining citizen is an immature citizen.




He says, “I kept the faith. I kept believing.”




Now there is stored up for me a what? A crown.




Let me tell you something. You ever hear this: no pain, no gain? Yeah. No trials, no crown. That’s true.




But boy, we like crown preaching.




“Crown. I’m a king. Yes, sir. I’m authority. Dominion.”




Elohiym said, “Right. But to put that on, to wear that crown, you’re going to go through a little bit of test.”




Tell your neighbor, “I’m working on my crown.”




Praise Elohiym.




Pa’al says this now: “There is now laid up for me a crown of righteousness which Yahuah Himself has prepared for me, the righteous Judge, and He will what? Not reward. Award.”




Reward is when you do something. Award is when you finish something.




Come on, somebody.




You get awarded for what you achieve. Reward is when you work for something. Award is what you achieve. You don’t come through nothing, you don’t get no awards.




It’s amazing that the same community that told me I was a cult was the same community that gave me the OBE. It’s no big deal to me. It just made me smile. I’m like, “Wow.” They were watching to see if I could handle their pressure that they were putting on me.




When I met them, they said, “You’ve done well. Here.”




It’s amazing they gave me an award for coming through what? All the persecution, all the stress, all the criticism. They said, “Yeah, he’s tough.”




You made me tough because you were the pressure.




Lift your right hand. Say, “Circumstances, welcome as dear friends. You come to make me better, prepare me for my award.”




You know the Bible says in Ya’aqov and Kepha Ri’shon—Kepha Ri’shon says, “When trials come, welcome them as friends, for they have come to purify your faith like pure gold.”




Imagine. Friends? Yes, friends.




House burned down. You go, “Wow. That’s an interesting friend.”




Then Heaven stands up and tips over. “Let’s see how she can react. Let’s see how he acts. Oh, you mean he actually collapsed? Oh, he stopped believing in Elohiym. He figured Elohiym only gave him one house.”




Or do you say like Iyov? “Though He slay one house, yet I trust Him for the next one, and two, and three, and four.”




It’s a test.




You make it through.




Not only to me.




Say amen.




Pa’al says this is not unique to anybody. You’ve got to fight a good fight of faith. You’ve got to make it to the end. You’ve got to overcome every circumstance. You’ve got your award prepared for you, but you’ve got to work for that one. You’ve got to go through the achievements of surviving every test.




You’re going to come through.




Elohiym doesn’t leave us without support.




Mattithyahu 11. Yahusha says, “Have faith.” Where? Don’t have faith in Elohiym’s miracles. Don’t have faith in Elohiym’s acts. Don’t have faith in Elohiym’s blessings. Don’t have faith in Elohiym’s anointing. Don’t have faith in Elohiym’s man of Elohiym.




Have faith in Elohiym.




You know why people hurt your feelings and break your heart? You have faith in them. So when they go, your faith gone. You’ve got to put faith in Elohiym, my dear.




He doesn’t go. He stays. He stays.




Let me give you one last thing to think about. This one is interesting.




Luqas 18:6 says, “And Yahuah said, listen to what the unjust judge says.”




This woman—she’s a widow. Remember that story? He said, “And will not Elohiym bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night?”




Yahusha speaking.




“Will He keep putting them off?”




Do y’all feel like Elohiym’s putting things off? Boy, I sure feel that way a lot. I’ve felt that way for the last twenty-nine years. I’ve been feeling Elohiym putting things off.




“Elohiym, why are You taking so long to bring this? I type all these things, all the visions on the paper.”




Elohiym says, “Listen, I’m in charge. You work for Me.”




He won’t put it off forever, it says.




“Elohiym, why isn’t this thing working? Why doesn’t—why don’t You—why am I breakthrough?”




You know, there are a lot of breakthrough conferences. Breakthrough. Breakthrough.




Elohiym said, “Look, I decide breakthrough.”




Y’all have a long time with no breakthrough conference. That’s why folks are depressed. They go to a breakthrough conference, and ain’t nothing breakthrough except their blood pressure.




Tell your neighbor, “My faith is not in Elohiym’s acts. My faith is not in breakthrough. It’s in Elohiym. It’s in Elohiym.”




Give Him glory. HalleluYah.




Tell your neighbor, “My faith is in Elohiym.”




He will not keep putting you off.




But I tell you, Yahusha says, “He will see.” He will see.




Glory. That’s enough to go home on right now, go take communion right now.




He will see what? Come on, y’all ready, man? He will see that you get justice.




What is justice? Rights.




He said, “Look, it seems like it waited a little while, but it ain’t the thing. It’s you He’s watching. He’s trying to develop faith in you, so He withholds it long enough until you mature in that area.”




He says, “Now you can have it now.”




Listen. It’s coming. It ain’t the thing Elohiym’s really working on. It’s you who is receiving the thing.




Glory. HalleluYah.




I told you on Sunday, “No” is an answer.




I said, Elohiym answers plenty prayers. “No, you ain’t ready for this yet. Go through a little bit more examination. Develop a little bit more perseverance. Get some more faith built up and strengthened, and then I can release this to you.”




You’ll be amazed how many people left the faith because the message people have been giving people is that you never have trials. And that’s a lie, because the only way to test faith is through trials.




So our ministry, we can endure anything, because sitting next to you are some of the most faithful people I know. We are a testimony to this country. I don’t care what anyone says.




I was talking to a politician in Washington, D.C. recently. One of our politicians was sitting at a table eating, and he had to introduce me. He said, “What can I say about you?”




I can tell you who he is. He said, “Boy, you know you’re one of our greatest native sons.” He said, “But I remember when I used to talk about you.” He said, “That’s something, hey. Life is strange. Now I’ve got to introduce you.”




He’s a minister of government, and he’s got to introduce me.




He said, “The things I used to say, I’m glad you never found out. But I’m proud of you now as our native son. You make us proud. Everywhere I go, they ask for you.”




He’s talking to me, and I’m sitting there thinking, “Wow. Suppose I had quit.”




He stood up, and he said, “This young man is one of the most inspirational men in our nation. He has inspired me. He has encouraged me. He has taught me.”




And he’s gone on all this long stuff about me, and I’m like, “I did that to you?”




It was the test that we survived that made us worthy of the Kingdom of Elohiym.




He says, “I tell you, He will see that you get justice and get it quickly.”




Quickly doesn’t mean in the morning. Quickly means when the time is right, it happens overnight. Bam. Over.




Yo, that’s breakthrough. That’s what I call breakthrough.




Breakthrough is when Elohiym’s timing comes and you’re not even expecting it. Bam. You ain’t got time to pray for no breakthrough.




It’s true. “I was waiting for this thing for a whole six months, and it happened in six minutes.”




Elohiym said, “Yep, that’s the way I work. Quickly.”




Give Elohiym a praise that it’s going to happen to you that way.




Amen, brother. Praise Elohiym.




Look at the last statement in the verse, though. Notice what He says: “When the Son of Man returns…”




He’s going to be looking for one thing—not big house and car and money in the bank.




Where’s your faith?




Will He find faith?




Let’s just thank Elohiym for faith.




Can you just close your Bibles and tell Him you trust Him? No matter what you’re going through, tell Him, “I trust You with this.”




See, that’s faith.




Faith is, “I trust Him. I trust what You said.”