Rico Sharp Live Stream

Lift your Bibles up in the air and repeat after me. Say, this is my Bible. I am who it says I am. In Jesus' name. Check your Bibles to Hebrews 11. Turn on the first one. Hebrews chapter 11, verses 1, 2, and 3. I made this series. I hope they ever— You seen where Jay went? Oh, Jay? He disappeared, but he left all his stuff right there. 1 through 3. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it, by now faith, by present faith, the elders obtained a good report. Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Bow your heads, close your eyes, let me pray. Father, in the name of your Son Jesus, We bless your people. We bless their hearing today. Give us ears to hear what the Holy Ghost would say to us through the word of God. Let your word come alive in our life as an embryo comes alive in the womb. Let life be produced. And let birthing take place from the seed of your interceding prayer. In the name of Jesus, we pray. We know that you're interceding, house of the Lord. I'm talking about evidence of faith. The word evidence means 3 things. Number one, it's that which tends to prove or disprove something. It's grounds for belief. It literally means to provide proof. Number 2, it is something that makes plain or clear. It is an indication or a sign. And number 3, the word evidence means to make evident, to show clearly, or to manifest. And Hebrews 11:1-3 There are 3 verses that we just read, 3 things I want to point out quickly pertaining to each verse. Number one, according to verse 1, the verse starts out by saying, now faith. This Lord doesn't comment. This is not a gesture. This is an indication that faith operates in the present. And that if we are going to use our faith, then we need what is called present faith or now faith, which is faith that operates in the present or faith that operates in the now. Here's the reason why. The God that we serve is a present God. The Bible tells us that He's an ever-present hope in the time of trouble. He's a present God. He's not a God that dwells in the past. Although he's an eternal God and he covers the past, present, and the future, as far as we are concerned, he's not in the future as it relates to the need that you and I have. He's a God Who operates and manifests now in our present. Your God is ever-present in your life. And 2, you and I, we operate in the present. We live in the present. We don't live in the past. We don't live in the future. We're not alive yesterday. We're not alive tomorrow. We are alive today. We are here. We are here. We are where now? Here. We are here. We are in the present. And because we live in the present, then we must have present faith or now faith. To please a present God or a now God. So now faith is the substance of the things we hope for. Now faith produces the evidence of the things not seen. Verse 2 says, for by it— and the word it refers to what verse Verse one just just talked about. The word it refers to now faith, so we can substitute the word it with now faith because it refers to now faith. It is pointing out what was just discussed, just with and just with. So, for by now faith, the elders obtained a good report. Good report means testimony. So God's word is saying that it is through present faith, it is through now faith, it is through faith in the now, faith in the present, that the Elders receive their testimony. How are you and I going to receive our testimony? The same way the elders receive theirs. Now faith, present faith, faith in the present. If you have a need, then your need exists where? In your past, present, or your future? In your present. If you have a prayer request, is your prayer request about your past, about your present, or about your future? Your present. Why isn't your prayer request about your past? Because it's gone. It's never coming back again. Why isn't your prayer request about your future? Because you're not in your future. You're in your Present. You're in your present. So God's power is available to us, but God's power operates in the now. You can't praise God and say, God, uh, 5 years from now I won't get sick. It'll be 5 years from now. Doesn't work that way. 5 years ago I I was sick. Go back 5 years ago and heal me. Doesn't work that way. God, I'm under attack right now in my body with my health. I need your power to heal me right now in the present time of my life. In the present time of my life. In other words, let your power Come now in this dispensation and heal me. Heal me now in my present time of living, not in my past time of living, not in my futuristic time of living. Heal me now. If you have a need, you want him to supply it now. Amen. The Bible tells us that when Jesus prayed, he taught the disciples how to Pray. He said, pray that God supply your daily need. So every day you believe God shall supply your need. Give us this day our daily bread. Anything that you need from the Lord, you want to receive it in this day because you dwell in the present. You don't dwell in the past. You don't dwell in the future. Are y'all understanding? Verse 2 says, don't say We need to understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which we appear were not made from the things which we appear. Or so that we understand, and you're not as good at understanding, but we understand that the worlds were not made from things which you see. Which means what you see, who you see, didn't create what you see. Look at your neighbor and say, Pastor, give me $5 if you say amen. People on Facebook paying $4.50. God has a power that is used for creativity. That power is called the Word of God. Mm-hmm. He speaks things into existence, and when he speaks his word into existence, it begins to create tangible manifestation. The Bible tells us in the book of Romans chapter 10:17 that faith comes by hearing, Hearing and hearing the word of God. The word hearing literally means receiving and believing, because you can hear something and you not believe what you hear. It literally means that your faith is developed and your faith is matured and your faith grows by hearing and believing the word of God, believing and receiving the word of God. So faith is produced by the word, and the power to heal is produced by faith. Good God Almighty! Matthew, I'm sorry, Luke chapter 5, verses 27 through 30. Luke 5:27 through 30. Back up a little bit. And when Jesus came into the ruler's house and saw the rich girl And the people making a noise, he said unto them, "Get place, for the man is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed. His mind is on them boys whipping butt last night. Yep. They don't take it easy. They think it's not gonna happen. But the Bible says, they laughed at me. Now that's where they've taken note. Sometimes you have people in your life that does not believe in the power of God. Sometimes there are people in conflict that does not believe in the Father and God. Sometimes you have people in your life that don't believe in Jesus. And the Bible said they laughed at Jesus. Then some people don't believe in what you're able to do or what you can do. But when the people were put poor, which means those same people that don't believe in the power of God, that put you in here, that don't believe in what you're able to do, he kind of had to pull them out of their sins. So Jesus put them forth, and then he went in and he took her by the hand, and the maid arose, and the fame went abroad into all the land. So that tells me that in order for there to be a manifestation of healing, God had to be Because doubt and unbelief hinders the move of God to take place. Okay, let's go over. Let's go to 27. Now when Jesus departed, these 2 blind men followed him, crying and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him. And Jesus said unto them, believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, according to your faith be it unto you. So the manifestation of your victory is exclusively based on Your faith. For anything that you have need of, that you desire to get from God, it is your faith that is going to prove whether you receive it or not. It's not based on if you have anything to do with it. It's not based on the circumstances around you. It's not even based on whether God is willing or not. But the manifestation of your victory is based on whether you can believe for it or not. Jesus said, believe ye that I am able to do this. So Jesus was saying, if you're going to receive it, then it's not based on whether I can do it or not. It's based on whether you believe. And he said, "Be it unto you according to your faith." So your healing, your deliverance, and your victory is not contingent upon someone else's faith; is contingent upon your faith. If you suffer, you suffer because you have a lack of faith. Yes. If you prosper, you possibly— come on, you have a walk of faith. God rewards you on the level of your faith, not the level of your need. On the level of your faith. No one can hinder your faith from producing the thing you desire, and no one can make your faith produce the thing that you desire. If you receive from the Lord, it's because you believe God's word and you're acting on it. If you don't receive from the Lord, it's because your faith did not produce when it was time for it to produce. You can't say, I tried the word and it didn't work. You can't say, I tried God and it didn't work. No, no, no. The Bible tells us in Romans 4 that God True and every man a liar. God's word can never fail. God cannot lie. Numbers 23:19 says that God is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent. If you say, I prayed and I asked God for healing and I didn't get healed in my body, well, you didn't get healed because of something you didn't do. It's not that you didn't get healed because of something God didn't do. If I had to tell you The Bible tells us in the book of Isaiah 53:5 that Jesus Christ was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace is upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. You're not sick because God wants you to be sick. You're not struggling with the situation in your life because God wants you to struggle. God is not testing you. God is not putting you on trial. God is not putting you through these situations. Big things happen because there is a sin. There is a law which brings a curse when it's violated. There's a devil. These things happen because we don't always do the things that we should do. God doesn't make us sick and then turn around and heal us. That's a confusion in your mind. God does one thing only. He honors his word. When we receive from the Lord, it's because we honor his word. When we don't receive from the Lord, it's because we didn't honor his word. Faith doesn't fail. When you use faith, it produces results. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 that God is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him by faith. You can't put it on God based upon you not having a job or you not being able to pay your bills. That's not God's fault. That's your fault. Change the things that you're doing. God gets blamed for things that he hasn't done. When it comes down to your manifestation, it's not in— it's not contingent upon whether God is willing to do it. It's contingent upon you believe his word. It's contingent upon whether you're in faith or not. It's contingent upon you having a corresponding action to the word that you read. You can't pray and do nothing and then expect to receive. You got to pray the prayer of faith first of all, not just pray. And when you pray the prayer of faith, secondly, you got to act on the prayers that you've just sent up to God. You can't sit back folding your arms looking at the clock expecting for something to happen any moment now. You got to get up and act like you're a believer and begin to walk by faith, not by sight, and recognize that God is going to meet you at the level of your expectation, not at the level of your desire. He's not going to give to you just because you Have a want or just because you have a need. When have you ever seen in the Word of God that you get everything you ask for? You don't see it in the Bible. Never did. He said he's going to give you everything you ask for. In fact, he did say he's not going to give us everything that we pray and we ask and we then receive. God is going to give us at the level of your needs because he's not at the level of your desires. He's not going to give himself to you because you have a want. How about asking God to help you overcome the weaknesses in your life? That's right. How about asking God to help you overcome the struggle and the warfare in your head, in your mind? Let's get real about this thing. God wants to give you all that your heart desires, but there are some things in our hearts that we desire that God says, I can't give you that. No, I can't give you stuff that's going to feed your flesh. That's right. That's going to make you more sex-centered. I can't give you stuff that's going to cause you to not come to church. Uh-huh. Because you know how it is. Sometimes we ask for it. Go ahead, Pastor. Say what you want to say. You ask for a new job, we get that new job, now we working on Sundays. Uh-huh. You get that new dress, that new suit, and you wear it to church, now it costs you too much and you can't even lift your hands and you can't— you don't want to get on your knees because you don't want to mess it up. You can't roll on the floor anymore. So Jesus says it's only going to be given according to your faith. Be unto you according to your faith. All right. Matthew 15. Matthew 15. Father makes light of the arrogant. Matthew 15, verse 21. Did Jesus make this an apology for his towering in sight? And behold, the woman repented and came out to the same post and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David! My daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. She's been possessed with a devil. Verse 23, Jesus ignored her or answered her not a word. Then his disciples And they came and besought him, or asked him, saying, why don't you just send her away? For she's crying after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. First, first, they thought he was just a kid about it, but he was The law of sin and the law of sin. Okay, John 1 proves that. Look at what this woman said— a woman did in verse 25. Then came she and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, it is not me To take children's bread is not suitable. Neither take what is designed for the house of Israel and cast it to dogs. Jesus was not calling the woman a dog, but he was saying that they were a nation at that particular time. So anyone that was not of the nation of Israel was considered to be a heathen nation and were heathen things unto the cleansed, or unsanctified. And every nation outside of the nation of Israel at that time, prior to Jesus' death, at that time, if you were not part of the nation of Israel, you fit into that category as a heathen. But after Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, all people of all tongues and all nations and all languages and all We just became part of the family of God through believing in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And again, he said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. So she worshiped him, and when she worshiped him, here's what happened. She got Jesus' attention. She astonished Jesus. Verse 26, he answered and said, it's not meet to take the bread and cast it to the dogs. She said, true, Lord, yet dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy Be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Write this down. 3 things I want to give you real quick. Number 1, great faith produces great evidence and demands great responses. In other words, whatever level your faith is on, that's the level that God is going to respond to. She had great faith. God gave her a great response. You could have gotten in a place where you step out of faith just because it didn't happen quickly or manifest quickly like you thought it would. Amen. Now, to prove that to you, uh, Daniel prayed, and you should find this, I believe it's around there. Daniel. Daniel. I'm just quoting. Daniel had prayed to God to ask God for something, and the Bible says that there was a war going on in the heavenlies, in the realm of the spirit, and the war was with the Prince of Persia, which represents Satan, and then the messenger angel Gabriel. And Gabriel said, Daniel, The moment you prayed, God heard your prayer and answered your prayer, and I was sent to let you know that your prayers have been heard. But the Prince of Persia withstood me, and therefore God had to send reinforcement, which was Michael the war angel, to come and release him so that he can bring the message to Daniel. To let Daniel know God heard you and God answered you the moment you prayed. But there was a delay of your manifestation coming from the realm of the spirit into the realm of the natural because the enemy engaged warfare on the natural thing you prayed for. Isn't it something to take note of that when you're in faith? gets the enemy's attention. That when you're believing God and using your faith for something, Satan rises up to try to create an obstruction of the process of manifestation so that you can't receive the manifestation when you want it. Wow. But don't let that rock your faith. Don't let that shatter your belief. When you ask God for something as we see it in the scripture. The Bible says that that girl's daughter was made whole from that very hour. Present faith sets a demand on present manifestation. Amen. Now faith sets a demand on now manifestation. Let me close out with this. Look at Matthew 17:14-21. Matthew 17:14-21. Matthew 17:14-21. And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him, to Jesus, a certain man yielding vows to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son, for he's a lunatic and sore vexed. For oftentimes he falleth into the fire, and oftentimes into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him to me. But Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples, when Jesus departed, and said, Why could it not be cast him out? Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief. For verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out. Goeth not out. Not by prayer, Pastor. Now, 2 things I want to say. When you're engaged in a situation where you're trying to receive something from the Lord by faith, it is necessary for you to realize that there are going to be oppositions. Even when you're in the faith, there's a fight involved, which is why Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy to fight the good fight of faith. There will be times in your life when you will have to indulge in spiritual warfare as it relates to your faith. The disciples tried to cast the devil out of this person And they couldn't do it. They had not spent the time developing their faith to the place of spiritual warfare. Neither had they spent the time developing their faith to the place where they could still believe while overcoming the attacks of the enemy. Sometimes you gotta fight while you operate in faith. Amen. What did I just say? Sometimes you got to fight while you operate by faith. Second thing I want to say, and this is more important one right here. Jesus said unto them in verse 20, because of your unbelief, your unbelief gets in the way of your faith. If you You have unto you. He went on to say, if ye have faith, and the key word there is have. The key word is have. If ye have faith, and the key word is have. What's the key word? Have. The word have means something very important. Everybody take your notes. The word have means to possess, to own. If you have keys to a car, then you possess those keys. They're in your possession. If you have keys to a car, more than likely It's hard to hear if you're all in the back. God said— Jesus said, if you have— which means you can't move mountains where faith don't have. Amen. You can only move mountains where faith possess and you have. To have it, to possess it, or to own it means it must be in your presence. It's present faith. It must be something that you possess. It must be something that you have with you at that time, something you possess at that time. When you pray, you must possess the faith to believe at that time. Is that right, Jermaine? You must believe at that time. You must possess it at that time. You can't pray and then don't possess or don't have faith and yet expect to receive. Like you can't shop and don't have money and expect to receive. You got to Have what you need at the time that you want it, and I'm done. Only five minutes. I gotta figure this thing out. I didn't like that. Once again, Father, today we ask. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Support your grace upon our lives. Grace to operate in will and faith in things we can't see. That your will be done. Teach us and help us to hold this going on. We love you, we appreciate you, and we give you glory and honor. And the man who said, if you're here today, you're not giving your heart to the Lord, we want to not close the service without giving you an opportunity. So if you didn't give your life to Jesus, you got to give your life to God, to God. And that's what we want to do at this time. So let's just raise your hand, brothers, as you got into life for sure, like you want to be a woman.