THE VICTORY OF FAITH
THE VICTORY OF FAITH
July 30, 2016 the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
“It is a light beyond the light of ordinary faith”
As we approach our annual conference, I proclaim and declare that the Captain of the LORD of HOSTS has brought us through as a triumphant, overcoming church prepared to ride with Jesus Christ who sits upon a white horse and is called Faithful and True.
1 John 5:4: “Whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world (kosmos); this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.”
To receive the Victory of Faith, and an overcomers’ crown, then we must overcome something.
This year I have preached and we have studied 1 Peter 1:9 “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” This is the healing and deliverance of the soul which results in being in the realm of living, moving and having our being in the victory of faith.
This realm of faith delivers us from the pain and lusts of our soul.
Last week I preached on the three signets or the three sealings of the Holy Spirit. I had no knowledge this was controversial until last night I was studying John Owen and the Christian Faith (1616-1683). It was not controversial to me because the Lord spoke to me about the three different sealings of the Holy Spirit and the progressive work of the indwelling Holy Spirit as we go from faith to faith and glory to glory.
Eph. 1:13: “You also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.”
As the Bride of Christ, we are “a garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.”
As I read this book and saw how the revelation of the seal of God was being restored to the men of God in the 16th Century and their corporate search for the full revelation, I was blessed to see these men press in for revelation.
John Preston (1587-1628) wrote, (which was significant for his time) “there are a generation of men that know what this seal of the Lord is.” That appears to be the revelation that the LORD always will and always has had a remnant. It could also be a prophecy of our day when the time of the revelation of the three seals has been opened to us.
Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680) wrote “there is an immediate assurance of the Holy Ghost by a heavenly and divine light, of a divine authority, which the Holy Ghost sheds in a man’s heart whereby he is sealed to the day of redemption…It is a Light beyond the light of ordinary faith.”
John Owen (1616-1683) wrote, “The effects of this sealing are gracious operation of the Holy Spirit in and upon believers, but the sealing itself is the communication of the Spirit unto them…As Jesus Christ was sealed by the Father (Jn. 6:27) the sealing of the Christian should be understood in that light…The Holy Spirit seals the believer by his personal indwelling.”
Keith Miller mentioned at the Thursday luncheon the difference between the realm of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the river of the Spirit. I hope he preaches on this at the Victory of Faith conference (as the Spirit leads). I refer to it as the “knowing realm” where all men know as they are known.
1 Co. 2:12: “Now we have received not the spirit of the world (kosmos), but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”
1 Co. 13:12: “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
The realm of the Spirit which is of God is the realm of the Kingdom of God. In that realm is no more sin. It is the realm of healing, provision, deliverance, love, joy, peace and righteousness. Mt. 12:28: “If I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.”
We have received the Spirit of God that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
John Owen in the 1600’s distinguished the gifts of the Holy Spirit from the grace of the Spirit. This is a key in the analysis of supernatural spiritual experience and the “Light beyond the light of ordinary faith.”
It enables us to resolve the apparent failure of Christians to persevere in the faith that overcomes the world. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit are separate from the Grace of the Spirit, i.e. the Spirit of God; nor do the Gifts of the Holy Spirit secure those who have the gifts to keep them from falling, apostasy, etc.
Both the Gifts of the Spirit and the Spirit of God (7-fold Spirits) are purchased by Christ for the church; both share the same immediate cause in the power of the Holy Spirit; both are given for the good and blessing of the church, so that as grace gives an invisible life to the church, gifts give it visible power and manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
Every grace is the gift of Christ and every gift is of his grace. Graces are the fruit of the Spirit and are the evidence of his personal indwelling of the Christians. Gifts are the power effects of the Holy Spirit’s operation through men.
Owen uses the illustration of Saul in the Old Testament and Judas Iscariot in the New. Both enjoyed the privileges of election to service without experiencing the fruit of an eternal election in God’s plan of regeneration, repentance, and faith in Christ.
They were anointed and chosen, but both fell and probably never walked in the realm of Glory. Both were gifted. We have seen this same failing in some circles of the Pentecostal and Charismatic communities.
“Saving faith is the effect of the covenant of grace, while gifts belong to the outward administration of the ministry and the covenant in the church. Grace is the result of Christ’s ministry as Priest, in obedience, sacrifice, and intercession, exercised and received by the elect. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are the fruit of his exaltation as King, in which office he exercises a universal ministry.” (J.O.)
Grace through the Seven-fold Spirit possesses and transforms the whole soul. (Heb. 6:4-6) Grace gives us the love to prevent the abuse of the gifts or delivering the Word without the love of God. Grace keeps us from being prideful over our gifts and callings. Grace submits all things to the Glory of God. Gifts need grace (love) in order to be exercised for the good of others, and not simply for self-seeking ends.
Where there are no gifts of the Holy Spirit or gifts of the grace of the Holy Spirit, there is no ministry at all.
Faith is always a gift of God, but it is also one of the seven-fold spirits of God. Both are a miraculous operation of the Holy Spirit. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” There is faith for salvation, there is faith for obedience, faith for provision, and faith to believe God for the victory that overcomes the world.
We have been studying the book of Joshua on Tuesday morning. This reveals a people who enter, overcome, and occupy the Land of God’s promise. This is the principle of Victory by Faith. For the New Testament Church, it is the principle of the overcomer who lives, walks, and has his being in Christ, in the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven.
“The response of men’s hearts to divine destiny must be birthed by the Holy Ghost. The Lord of Glory has but one theme, message, and project to build Himself a holy habitation in the earth that will contain and then dispense His glory, a people out of whom He can live and bless the nations. Survival in these last days pivots on two hinges: We must know the Lord is with us, and we must declare that we are with the Lord.” (K.V.)
In Joshua is the story of Achan’s sin and the curse of that sin.
“For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing…” Achan was the descendant of Judah’s whoredom with Tamar. Zarah was the twin on whom the midwife tied the red string when his hand came forth first. However Pharez was born first. Pharez’ descendants are of the royal line of David. Achan is a “type” of the people in the earth under the curse who have not received their Savior, Jesus Christ, who broke every curse. There are two sons, one who partakes of the accursed thing and one (Jesus Christ) who broke the curse. Both are from the seed of Judah.
There are two trees in the garden, two sons, two kingdoms. One is of the Kingdom of God and the other is the “kosmos” realm of the world and all that is evil.
1 Jn. 2:15: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)
“The faith of the Son of God! Jesus gained the stature of A SON OF GOD’S FAITH through the denials and dealings of God that he endured from age 12 to 30. That was where he completed the learning of God’s faith (life) which was later christened “MY FAITH” (G). It was through this order of faith that Jesus proved his superiority over this world (H) by overcoming the prince/god of this world. (Matt. 4:3-10)
1Jn. 5:4 calls this faith “OUR FAITH”, because it has been kept as an inheritance for saints that should inherit soul salvation or eternal salvation (I). As we keep the faith of Christ (J)…Then we journey to the uttermost (K) where we overcome the fullness of evil (Satan personified).
· Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan (sin/death) unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins (i.e. remission by receiving the riches of God’s grace – Eph. 1:7), and inheritance among them which are sanctified (i.e. separated from the world) by faith that is in me (Christ).” (Tayo Fasan-Nigeria)
There is One Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He continually leads His people into victory and rest. As we make our journey through the present shakings we will see Christ Jesus as the Captain of Our Salvation, and the One who leads the Church into our inheritance of rest, bounty, and triumph.
As believers, by FAITH, we are responsible to surmount formidable obstacles, engage in protracted warfare, and overcome fierce foes as we apprehend the blessings and power of the Kingdom of God.
Heaven is the realm of God, there is no conflict there, only REST.
The Kingdom of God is our habitation and the promises of God, pointing to the heavenly places of the realms of the Spirit which is our heritage as New Testament Christians. However, we have to overcome the demons in our soul that separate us from possessing that inheritance.
“ There shall not any man be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will not fail you, nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage.”
If God be for you, who can be against you? “Be strong and of Good courage.”
I know absolutely that “courage” is given to us as a “Grace” from the Lord. Once-upon-a-time, long, long, ago, I was a very shy, timid, and fearful woman. About 28-years ago, I had a visitation from the Lord. I awoke sitting straight up in my bed. The Lord spoke to me. “Carolyn you have courage.” Since that day, I have never been afraid. Oh how beautiful are the words of Christ Jesus. Oh how beautiful our souls become after the supernatural touch of the grace of the Lord.
“…this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.”
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church
Scripture from K.J.V. – I entered into the labors of John Owen on the Christian Life; Tayo Fasan; Bible Study by: Carolyn Sissom on Joshua- Chapter 7. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those from whom I have gleaned.