 Okay. So I've turned on the recording for today's lecture. Welcome everyone. Let's just quickly review where we were, where we paused last week. I will share the notes and let's see. Okay. So those of you who are online, you would have downloaded the lecture notes, the PDF. So please follow along with us. And those are in class. You have the printed version of the notes. So please follow along. So we gave a little introduction last week, just introducing the subject of faith. And we'll quickly review what we did and then we will go forward. So what we said last week is from the introduction that our Christian walk is not a passive life where you just sit and wait for God to drop things on you. It's not a passive thing, but it's an active thing. We have to reach out and take what God has made available to us. We have to reach out. That's why we said in Luke 12-32, Jesus said, It's your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And yet at the same time in Matthew 11-12 he said, we have to press in. The violent take it by force. So one side, God is very happy to give it to you. On the other side he's saying you have to take it by force, violence. So both are there, both are an important part. And so the taking it by force is where faith comes in to take hold of what is ours in the kingdom. And so we introduced the course and then we began the definition of what faith is. And this is quickly reviewing based on Hebrews 11-1. He said, faith is the substance of things hoped for. It is the evidence of things not seen. So faith is the substance of things hoped for. So first of all we said, therefore we must hope for things. There is nothing wrong in hoping or desiring for things. You must desire to, for example, if God has called you to be a pastor, you must desire to have a church. You must desire to impact the lives of people. You must desire to accomplish great things. You must desire if you're sick, you must desire to be healed. So faith is the substance of things hoped for. You must have that hope or the desire for things. And faith is the substance, it gives substance. We also said it means it's the foundation or it also means it is the title deed. It's the title deed of things you hope for. It's a title deed, it's the proof of ownership. So your faith is the proof of ownership of things you're hoping for. That means it's your proof saying that I have it, it's mine. So somebody says, how do you know you have it? My faith is proof of ownership. And I remember the story that Yonge Cho had written in one of his books. Now, Yonge Cho, this was back in the 1960s, a long time ago. At that time, he was a young man in Korea and there was a Korean war and so the country had gone through a lot of difficulties. But God had raised him up, he had been saved and God raised him up. And if you know the story of Yonge Cho, he got used to build the largest church in the history, Christian history, more than 800,000 people in that church. But anyway, this was in the very beginning of his ministry. He shares this little story about when he started in the ministry, he was living in one room, but in that room, he had nothing. There's no chair, no desk, nothing. So he prayed. He said, God, I want a desk, I want a chair, and I want a cycle. I want three things. So he had nothing. He was just in a bare room. He was starting. So he prayed, I want a desk, I want a chair, and I want a cycle. And God was teaching him about faith. So he started praying. And then he learned that faith is the title deed. It's the ownership, it's a proof of ownership. That means you have it even though you cannot see it. So when he would tell his friends, come, come and see. I have a desk, chair, and cycle. They'll come to his room. He'll open the door. It's empty. But he said, I have a desk. I have a chair. I have a cycle. But you can't see it. You look all around in the room. There's no desk, no chair, no cycle. But he says, I have a desk. I have a chair. I have a cycle. Where is it? My faith. By faith, I have received it. So by faith, I have already received it from God. But it's not in the room. It's not physically there. You can't see it physically. But he said, come see, come in my room. See, I have a desk. I have a chair. I have a cycle. Nothing there in the room. But he said, I have a desk. I have a chair. I have a cycle. So people thought he's gone. But what he was expressing was his faith. Because faith is the title deed. It's the proof of ownership of things hoped for. He's desiring for that. But you can't see it yet. You can't see it in the natural. But he said, I have a desk. I have a chair. And I have a cycle. I have a spring. I believe in God. By faith, I have received it. I didn't ensure enough shortly after that. I forget what was the time period. Very soon, somebody was leaving the country and they were getting rid of their things. And so they gave him a desk, a chair, and a cycle. And he received exactly what he prayed for. So faith is the proof of ownership. That means you know it's yours even before it actually comes in the natural. So faith is the substance of things hoped for. So he desired, he wanted, he desired, he hoped for a desk, a chair, and a cycle. He had faith in God. He believed he received it even though he couldn't see it. But that was his proof of ownership. And then eventually it came into reality in the natural realm. Okay. So faith is the substance of things hoped for. It is the evidence of things not seen. So even though our natural senses cannot feel it, it's not there. But you have the conviction of the reality. You have the conviction it is true. For example, even when you're believing God for healing, right? You may not feel healed but you believe the Word of God that by the stripes of Jesus you have been healed. Right? You believe you've been healed. No, with me. So far. Okay. All right. So we saw Hebrews 11.1. I'm just quickly reviewing that. Okay. Then our faith connects us to God. So when you want to, you know, connect with God. So Francis, are you using your phone to look at the Bible or? Oh, meaning. Okay. Don't use your phone for other things. Okay. It's not right. So faith connects us to God. Right? So if we want God's spirit, we are in this realm. If we want to connect with God, we have to connect by faith. So we have to connect by faith. Faith is required to please God. So if you want to please God, you've got to have faith. Our faith is in the person of Jesus Christ. We said this, that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. So it's not in some mechanical thing or, you know, it's in the person of Jesus Christ. Then we said that faith is based on a relationship. You know, Abraham was called a friend of God. Abraham is a father of faith. And what is, what's he referred to as? He's referred to as the friend of God. So faith is based on a personal relationship with God. And as we grow in our relationship with God, we will also be able to grow and increase in our faith. We also said last week, faith is of the heart. That means with the heart, man believes. So it's not a minded thing. It's a heart thing. So sometimes in your mind, you may have questions. In your mind, there may be doubts. In your mind, there may be, you know, some things that you're not sure of, but you can still have faith in your heart. And that's where the battle many times is. You know, if you're believing God for a promise, you believe in your heart. God is true. God is faithful. God will keep his word. But sometimes you will face questions in your mind. Or things around you will be going against the promise of God. It will be going against, it will be going opposite to the word of God. So your mind will, you know, will feel, oh, what is happening? You know, it's very opposite. But in your heart, you say, no, God is true. His word is true. I believe it. So faith is of the heart. Even though in the mind, there may be questions. The mind may be stuck, you know, facing and seeing these things that are happening around us. And so there may be questions. It's okay. Right. Don't confuse the questions in your mind with your heart. Your heart can believe even when there are questions in your mind. Okay. So faith is of the heart and we walk by faith, not by sight. And we said that God calls us to live by faith. That means everything you do in life. Do it by faith. Everything. You know, you're going to be here for one year, two years, three years to study with us. Then you're going to graduate. Then you're going to start your ministry. You're going to do something. Everything you do, you have to do it by faith. You believe God. God will bless me. God will help me. God will, you know, work through my life. You may pray for people or whatever you do, you have to do it by faith. We live by faith. That means everything you are doing in life, you have to do it by faith in God. So our life is a life of faith. And now we've stopped. I think somebody here that our faith is conceived and nurtured by the word of God. Romans 10 17. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of. That's why we must always go to the word of God. And always your faith is based on the word of God, the Scriptures. What did God say? It's based on the promise. So you go back to the promise and read it, meditate in it, be established in the promise of God. Because faith is birthed by the word of God and faith is nurtured and made strong by the word of. So we have to constantly go back, go back and you establish yourself on the word of God, on the promise of God. Because faith is conceived and it's nurtured by the word of. So now faith in the word is faith in God. So when you believe the word, you are believing God. When you believe God's word, you're believing God. So God celebrates that. When he sees you and me, wow, this person really believes my word. He or she is actually believing me. So when you have faith in the word of God, you're actually having faith in. So that's important. We talked about this last week. And faith is like a muscle. It grows as it is exercise. So faith is like a muscle. You have to keep using it, keep using it. And as you keep using your faith, as you keep exercising your faith, it's going to grow. It's going to become stronger. And as your faith is stronger, you can do bigger things, greater things for the kingdom of God. All right, let's start now. So we covered till that last week. So all this was just a quick review. So let's begin now. We're going to look at a few more things about faith. I want us to understand that there are several factors that influence our faith. So we know faith is based on the word. But if we want to exercise faith in God, there are other things that are involved. So for example, if you're doing exercise, you're building your muscle. Very good. But you have to be in good health. If you're sick, then you're laying down, you can't use your muscle. You can't exercise. So your whole body has to be in good health if you're going to be doing something. So it's like that. For faith to work, there are other things involved. What are those other things? In Galatians 5 and verse 6, could somebody read that for us? Galatians 5 verse 6. Go ahead. Just read it out. You can read it from the notes. Galatians are from the screen. Galatians 5 verse 6. Those of you with us online, feel free. If you have any questions, just type it on the chat. And I will come and look at the chat from time to time. And we will be happy to answer your questions. For those of you online, just feel free to type your questions or comments in the chat as we progress. We will look at it from time to time. Galatians 5 verse 6, somebody please read it. So Galatians 5 verse 6. The last part of that verse, it says, what matters is faith working through love. Faith works through love. So what must be there for faith to work? It has to be love. The love of God. You have to be walking in the love of God. So examples. Suppose there's only examples. Suppose Nikhil, right? So Nikhil comes for prayer. Pray for me. Whoever, he may come to you for prayer. Please pray for me. Okay. You want to pray for him. You want to exercise your faith for him or with him, right? But in order to exercise faith with him or for him, what must you have? Love. Because faith works through love. Suppose you just fought with Nikhil. Angry. You're now not talking to him. No, not in good terms. Can you exercise faith? Not possible. Why? Because faith works through love. If you don't have love, if you don't have compassion, it's difficult for faith to work. Understanding. So when we want to pray for somebody, we have to move in the love of God. Because faith works through love. So it's important, right? So faith is based on the word of God. That's important. Faith comes from the word of God, important. But for faith to work, there has to be love. Faith works through love. So I have to guard my heart. Each one of us, we have to guard our heart. And there is no hatred in our heart towards people. And there is no anger. There is no hatred, no bitterness towards people. Because anger, hatred, bitterness towards people can prevent faith from working. So first, suppose, example, suppose I am angry with Nikhil. Before I can pray for him, first I have to get that out. God, I'm sorry. Remove this hatred or anger or whatever towards him. Oh God, take it out of my heart. Fill my heart with love for Nikhil. So now there is love in my heart. Then faith can work. Because faith works through understanding, right? It's very important. And if you look at 2 Peter, 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 5 through 8, Peter in that passage is telling us to faith, to the faith we have in God, we have to add many other things. So I want you to count how many other things to add to faith. Just count in those verses. He says to your faith, add, add to your faith. Let's count it, virtue, to virtue, knowledge, to knowledge, self-control, to self-control, perseverance, to perseverance, godliness, to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. So how many? Seven. So to faith, you keep adding these things. He mentioned seven things. That means faith needs this kind of an environment. It needs to be surrounded by these things, the seven other ingredients for it to thrive, for it to grow and be nurtured and become strong. Right? So add to your faith seven things he mentioned in a virtue, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love. Right? So why am I emphasizing this? Sometimes when we talk about faith and we are focusing in this whole course, we are focusing on this one topic of faith. But remember, other things are important around it. Right? For faiths to work, there has to be love. For faiths to be in a good condition, there has to be these other things like virtue and knowledge and brotherly kindness and self-control and endurance, all those things need to surround the faith that we have in our hearts for faiths to be really effective. Okay? We are going to spend almost all our time talking about faith. But don't forget, other things are also important around it. Okay? So you can keep this list in mind that faith needs these other things to also be built up and encouraged. And in 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 19. What was that? Somebody's phone? Okay. Sorry, there's some interruption here. Okay. In 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 19, Paul the apostle, he mentions this, that we need faith. We need a good conscience for faith. I mean, that conscience must be clear for faith to work. So that's another aspect that we must keep in mind. Right? So let me just pause and see if anybody on the online class has any questions. All right. Okay. So I see a question here from Nina. When we say heart, is this used interchangeably with man's spirit? That's right. So Nina, the answer to your question is yes. Right? So Nina's question is, does heart mean spirit? Okay. So in the New Testament, it's almost synonymous. That means heart and spirit are used in a synonymous way. They're interchangeable. But in the Old Testament, the heart is often used inclusive of spirit and soul. If you study the way the word heart is used in the Old Testament, it kind of inclusive spirit and soul. But in the New Testament, for some reason, you will find a demarcation between spirit and soul. And so the heart is used in a very distinct manner. So to answer your question, in the New Testament, heart and spirit can be used interchangeably. In the Old Testament, you've got to keep in mind that sometimes the word heart, refers to the inner person, includes the spirit and soul. Okay. All right. There's another question here from Krishna. Is someone who hurt us emotionally, but we are still praying for them? Does it affect our faith? Krisha. Krisha. Yeah. Sorry, Krisha. I said Krishna. Thank you for correcting me. So Krisha has a question. If someone has hurt us emotionally and we are still praying for them, does it affect our faith? You see, as long as we are able to love them, so people hurt us, of course, it causes us pain. We may feel upset and all of that. But if we forgive, if we let go, we are able to walk in the love of God and then we pray from that place of love and forgiveness, our faith would be effective. But if somebody has hurt us and we are angry, we are hateful, we are resentful, bitter towards them, then that negative emotion of hatred, unforgiveness and good towards them is going to hinder our faith. Okay. So it's so important that we first forgive. We first release the love of God and then begin to extend our faith towards them. Okay. And a classic passage is in Mark 11, 22, 23, 24 and 25, Mark 11, 22 to 25, because Jesus says, have faith in God. You can move the mountain verse 23. You can pray and receive from God. And right after that, He tells us to forgive. So it's all connected and it shows us the importance of forgiving people. I hope that answers your question, Krisha. Thank you. Good. Thank you for those questions and any other questions. All right. Let's get back. Any questions from those of you in class? Any questions? Okay. All right. Let's get back to the notes now. I'll go ahead and share my screen. So let's move forward. Another important aspect about faith. Faith causes the power of God and His word to be released. This is very important. Faith causes the power of God and His word to be released. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 11, notice the Apostle Paul is praying for these believers. He says, I'll be praying for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power. He's saying we are praying for you. So just look at the last part of that verse. That God would fulfill the work of faith with power. To fulfill means to complete. That God would complete your work of faith. That means when you step out and do something in faith, your work of faith, you are doing something. You're acting your faith. You're working your faith. You're putting your faith to work. What will happen? God will fulfill your work of faith with... But if you don't work your faith, His power is not going to be released. So a good example which I've been mentioned last time is that faith can be imagined like a switch. So there's power coming in those wires from the electricity board. It comes in all the way. And there's a switch. But if the switch is off, the power is stopped there. It's not flowing through. But when you put it on, power flows. So just as an example, faith is like a spiritual switch. So when you work your faith, when you act your faith, when you do something with your faith, then God fulfills or He completes our work of faith with power. So His power goes into operation when we work our faith. Not when we sleep on our faith. We work. We have to exercise our faith. Then His power goes into operation. So faith causes the power of God and His word to be released. There's some more scriptures on this. Look chapter 1 verse 45, when Mary, the angel has come to Mary and said, Mary, you're going to have a child by the power of the Holy Spirit. So it's a really shocking word. And then in that context, this is what is spoken to Mary. Elizabeth speaks this by the Spirit. She says, Blessed is she who believed. For there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord. See, God has told you something. When you believe that, then you will see a fulfillment. So God has spoken. We believe it. Then there is a fulfillment of that word. So that's what Elizabeth is saying. Blessed are you who believed because there will be a fulfillment of those things which were spoken to you by the Lord. So faith is what causes that word for God's power to be released for that word to be fulfilled. One more scripture on that, Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 2. It says, For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them referring to the Old Testament people, people of Israel. But the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who were dead. So think about this. The word of God is full of the power of God. Correct. His word is alive and powerful. So God's word is powerful. There's nothing wrong with it. God's word is not empty. God is watching over his word to fulfill it. But it's telling us in Hebrews 4 verse 2 that the word did not benefit them. It didn't do anything. So can you imagine God is sending his word and his word is not accomplishing anything in them. He's referring to the Old Testament people, the people of Israel at that time. It didn't do them any good. The word was given to them. It didn't profit them. Why? It was not because there was a problem in the word. The word was pure. The word was the word of God. It was holy. It was full of power. What went wrong? It says it was not mixed with faith. That's the problem. The word came. They didn't mix it with faith. They didn't mix it with faith. So what happened? It did not benefit. They heard the word. God gave them the promise. But still it didn't benefit. It didn't benefit. So if you want to put it in a positive way, when we hear the word and we mix faith with it, we have faith in the word, then faith in the word causes the power of God to flow into our lives. So you hear the word of God and you believe that word. God, I believe that what you have said, I believe it. Then the power of God will flow into your life. So example, example. Suppose as a believer, I believe in Jesus. I believe God. But suppose right now in my life, example, things are very difficult. I'm struggling in my life. Financially, I may be very difficult, but things are not going very well in life. Example. Suppose that's my condition. Then I open my Bible and in the Bible, I see, I just open my Bible. I say, okay, please let me read one Psalm today. I'll read the first Psalm. Okay, Psalm 1. Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly. He doesn't stand in the way of sinners. He doesn't sit in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law, he meditates day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. He will bring forth his fruit in its season. His leaf will not wither and whatever he does will prosper. Hallelujah. Jump from my place. I start dancing. God, you said in your words, I will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. I will bring forth my fruit in its season. My leaf will not wither, whatever I do will prosper. Then I start dancing, shouting, Hallelujah. Right now, things are bad in my life. Right now, things are very difficult. But God has given his word. And he says, if I fear the Lord, if I delight in this word, if I don't do the wrong things, I will be like this. I will be like this. So what happens? I mix faith with that word. And I begin to say, I am like a tree planted by the rivers of water. I bring forth my fruit in its season. My leaf does not wither, whatever I do will prosper. What is that? Around you, things are very bad. Right now, things are very difficult. But it doesn't matter. Because God has given his word. And when you mix faith with that word, what will happen? That word will start working in your life. That word will start releasing God's cover into your situations, into your circumstances. And things in your life will begin to change. It will begin to change. Things will happen. He said, how is it happening? It's because the power of God is working in your life situation. And the word of God will transform your life situation. And you will become like that tree. You will be fruitful. You will be evergreen. And whatever you do will start prospering. Amen? That's how it will happen. Or imagine somebody reads the Bible. Okay, today I have to do a devotion. Psalm 1. Read Psalm 1. Halfway you sleep through the Psalm. You reach the last verse. Close the Bible. You go to... You read the same Psalm. But it didn't profit. It didn't benefit. You read the same Psalm. Maybe even highlighted yellow color, blue color, red color. I don't know. But you didn't mix faith with that word. You read the same Psalm. One person read the Psalm believed that Hallelujah, it is done. And started rejoicing. I said, God, I believe that word. And that one word from God can transform your life if you mix faith with it. Another person read the same Psalm. Colored it. Different colors. Close the Bible. So I did my devotion. Yeah, you did your devotion, but you didn't believe the word. You didn't mix faith with the word. So what happened? The word that you read or the word that you heard didn't profit, didn't benefit. No, didn't benefit. Why? The problem was not with the word. It is from we didn't mix faith with the word. Are you understanding? So in every... This is so important. This is why faith is important. We must mix faith with the word of God. With what we share. And God's word will produce. It will work in our lives. Now I'll just tell you to give you one story and then we'll go for a break. So I was doing my engineering. I was studying. This is for my masters. So I'd gone to the US to do my masters and I had made a decision in my heart that I will not ask my parents for money after going there. I'm going to study on my own. I'm not going to ask my parents for money. And this was long time ago. So this was the beginning of 1992. I was in the university there. And that semester... The semester fees was I think around $6,000. I forget the exact amount. Something like that. $6,000 for that semester. One semester every semester. So for that semester fees was $6,000. I have to pay. I was also working. As a student you're allowed to work on campus. I was also working. But that was only a stipend. Meaning I would only get $800 a month which was enough for food and rent. I didn't have any more money to pay the fees. But I said, I will have faith in God. I will have faith in God. So I started meditating in all these scriptures. Psalm 23 verse 1. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in war. My God will supply all of your need according to his riches in glory. This is the Bible. This is the word of God. It's not true. It is the word of God. So God you said you will supply all my need according to your riches in glory. So like this I took seven scriptures. Also Matthew 17 20 said, if you have faith in your heart like a mustard seed, you speak to the mountain. Tell it to move. It will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. I said, God, I'm speaking to this mountain. My tuition bill. I declare. So every day I will get up. Semisters started. Okay. They give you time to pay the fees. So semester started. I'm attending the classes, but no money to pay. I don't have money yet to pay the fees. Right. And I'm every day I'm declaring the word of God. And I speak to my tuition bill, tuition bill in the name of Jesus. You are paid in full. Because God said, you know, speak to the mountain. Tell it to move. It will move. So I said, every, I command this debt, this mountain of debt to be canceled. My tuition bill is paid in full in the name of Jesus. So speaking, speaking pretty. Now, semesters going on. I remember in class one day, a professor, he takes up the list. He says, I just, your name is here. You still haven't paid this tuition fees in class. I said, yes, I'm working on it. Which was true. I'm working by faith. I didn't tell him I'm working by faith. I just said, yes, I'm working on it. Okay. The time is running out. You have to pay the fees. And if you don't pay the fees, then by the end of the semester, then whatever you've done in the semester is not counted. You know, you would have written all the exams. You've done all the assignments. But if you don't pay the fees, it's not counted. It's not regarded as though you've done all the courses. You know, it's a waste. So time was, you know, time was going. I was, I'd crossed, I think we'd crossed the middle of the semester. So in the mornings when I would wake up, my mind will be saying, you're a fool. What is going on? Where is the money going to come from? They will send you back to India. You won't have a degree. And it'll be very shameful. You know, my mind was full of those thoughts and, you know, sometimes fearful thoughts or anxious thoughts. True. But in my heart I said, no, God said in his word, my God will supply. So the louder these thoughts got in my mind, the louder and stronger my faith becomes. God she will provide. I don't know how that God will provide. I remember one day I was doing work for one of the professors. So I went to the, I was working, doing my work in the lab. And suddenly the professor came. He said, I have received a fax. I got a fax. That means, you know, electronic transmission. Got a fax. He got a fax from the head of one department, another department for whom we were doing research. And he said, that person sent me this fax. On the fax, he mentioned that we have about $6,500 extra for this financial year or this academic year, sorry. And he's asking my professor, the professor for whom I was doing research, if he would like to use that money anyway. So the professor came to me, showed me the fax. He said, I'm going to tell him, we will use this money to pay your fees. I was, wow. You know. And then they gave me the check to pay my fees. I was so proud. But this was, for me, it was like God fulfilled his work. He fulfilled his work. How he did it, that was up to him. I didn't even know that, you know, all these things would happen. I didn't know. My part was to mix faith with the word, to believe the word of God and to stand firm in faith. God's part is fulfill the words. So when you have faith, he will fulfill your work of faith with power. Understand it. So that's how you and I must exercise our faith in God. And not only did I get money for that semester, he also said from now on, we will cover all your future studies covered. So not only that, everything was taken care of. So just amazing how God brought all of that together. All right. So let me just check quickly any questions here on the chat before we go for a break. All right. Okay. All right. So let's take a quick 10-minute break. We'll go for a break. We'll come back in 10 minutes. See you online. I'll see all of you in 10 minutes. Just a quick break and we'll be back. Thank you. God bless.