 Last few weeks I've talked about faith, fourth dimension, three weeks ago I mentioned about how faith is what you have, more will be given and we will have abundance, meaning our inner world here attracts, reflects and draws more of what we have on inside. This testimony we just watched is a perfect example, when a person had hurt and abuse, it only attracted more of that and then attracted more and more of that. That's the law of faith. What you have here inside, you will have more of that on the outside. Last week we talked about David and that positivity, what we mean as Christians being positive is different than what the self-help books offer, where they focus more on positivity in themselves. For us positivity is based on the fact that our God is good, He wants only good for us and our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Our faith is not in faith, our faith is in God. Amen. And this morning I want to continue talking about the fourth dimension, it's going to be part three. The whole Christmas relates to the message of the fourth dimension. The Bible says the kingdom of God is within you. Everything about Christianity, since Jesus came on this earth and he introduced a message of good news, it's always inward first and outward second. His kingdom is not somewhere located in the White House, His kingdom is located in here. When people said, where is your kingdom? He said, it's within us. When the Holy Spirit comes to live, He doesn't live in your attic, He doesn't live in your basement, He doesn't live in the church, He lives within us. God's main concern is your inner world. That is where He lives, that's where faith lives and that world is more important to Him than anything else. Jesus was born in a manger. You know, sometimes people ask why? Well, that's where lambs are born. And the barns, they're not born in churches. And Jesus was the Lamb of God. He had to be born in the manger. But it's interesting because the manger is few things. The manger is a barn, it's dark, it's defiled, it's dirty, and it's unworthy of divine royalty. And that is exactly where Christ gets born. Till this day, He gets born inside of us, in our heart. And when He comes, the darkness turns into light, defilement becomes purity, dirt becomes holiness, and unworthiness gets filled with God's identity, of royalty being born in us. And we walk knowing who we are, because we know who's we are. We belong to Christ. Christ wants to be born within you. And it's interesting because the whole message of Christmas is also so beautifully portrayed in the 4th dimension. Jesus comes to Mary, I'm sorry, Angel comes to Mary and He says, Mary, you will conceive a child. And Mary says, how can that be? I don't know the man. On the outside, I have nothing. And the angel says, no, no, no. I said it. That's exactly how it's going to happen. God's power will come on you. And as Mary receives the word, she conceives. The 4th dimension is when you receive, you conceive. Somebody say, I'll receive. See, when your heart is open to God's word, your world is open to God's spirit. When your mind is open to God's promise, your world is open to God's anointing. When your heart, like Mary says, Lord, according to your word, and her womb was completely at that moment conceived. 4th dimension is that when I open myself to God's promise, even if it contradicts my circumstances, my life is open to God's power. And Mary also teaches us that when the moment she conceived, she started to have contradiction in her circumstances. Because being pregnant without having a relationship with the man, it created a problem with her fiance, Joseph. Coming to Joseph and she says, well, this man showed up. And after that, I am pregnant. Joseph's like, what is his name? He says, Joseph, it's not what it seems like. And Joseph says, I want to know his name. Is this Joshua or is it Caleb came? It's Gabriel. Yeah, right, Gabriel. Which Gabriel? The one we went to school with or the other one that lives on down the street? I mean, imagine Joseph's tender and there's a contradiction. Always when you receive something from God on the inside, the circumstances will contradict your inner world. And like Mary, you have to hold on, not go to abortion clinic, as to say. Meaning, don't give up on the promise of God, because the circumstances are throwing a fit. Hold on to the promise of God and believe that God will work out the circumstances as he did with Joseph. Things will realign, everything will be okay. And then that which you deliver will deliver you. That which you feed one day will feed you. That which you protect one day will rescue you. Amen. If you have your Bible, let's go together to Genesis chapter one, verse one, two and three. Genesis chapter one, verse one, two and three. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The heaven was, the earth was without form and void and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, let there be light and there was light. The earth God introduces to us himself with the assumption that we already know he exists. God doesn't describe to us his history. He doesn't tell us what he's been doing before that. He just goes in with the assumption we believe he exists and he right away introduces to us our earth. Between verse one and verse two, a lot of theologians agree and disagree that probably the earth wasn't made to be without form and void and dark. The earth was made differently, but something happened that caused the earth to go from verse one to verse two. There's many speculations on what happened and everything and I will not go into that because it doesn't really concern right now us and what's happening with us. What's concerning is what's going on after that. When the earth was without form and void and darkness was all over the place. And it's interesting in the midst of all this chaos, in the midst of all this mess. I want you to see few things about faith and few things about God. And the spirit of God was hovering. This word hovering is another word for like incubating like a hand or an eagle is sitting on the eggs and it's resting there and it's allowing its warmth and the heat to penetrate those eggs which the chickens eventually or chicks are eventually born. So this is closeness. Holy Spirit is close. He's not distant. He is very near and he's hovering over the earth. I learned the first lesson here is when I am in my worst, God doesn't leave me. He's actually hovering over me. When I am at my worst, when I am in the dark, God doesn't abandon me. What does that mean for my faith? See faith begins where the will of God is known. Write this down. Faith begins where the will of God is known. You can't have faith in God if you're not sure he is for you or you're struggling. Faith begins when you understand if I am in the dark, if my finances are going through a chaos, if my marriage is struggling, if my health is decaying, if my children are not serving God, if I'm personally confused and I am in doubts, the Spirit of God, God does not desert me when I am struggling. God is near to me. The Bible says he is close to those who call upon him in spirit and in truth. Faith begins when I know God is for me. See, you cannot build your faith on what God can do. People can say, well, God can, you know, churn my circumstances like this. God can also make you into a monkey. But you don't build your faith walking around hoping he makes you into a superhero. God is not going to do what he can. God will always do what he said and what he wills. Your and my faith is not based on God's ability. It's based on God's will. And to know his will means to know his willingness, to know what is his heart open to. And when you know God's will, you have the audacity to believe, even if you are in a mess. About 14 years ago, I just received my license in July, December 30th or 31st, we were going to Spokane to do a service there. And I asked my father if I can take his Dodge Chrysler, a van, and go fill it with gas before we would go on a trip. And as I got into the van, and I was driving on the road 68 on the Sendifer Boulevard, on a stop sign it was really cold and the roads were icy and I pressed on the brakes and the van did not obey my instructions. It kept going straight and it hit straight into the Sendifer Boulevard. There was another car and I caused a three car accident. The van started spinning. I got into a huge accident. I freaked out. The first person I called was my dad. How could I call him if I just wrecked his van? Because of a will, I knew my dad will be disappointed with me. But because I've been with him for so long, I know his will. That he will not kick me out. He will not say, why are you calling me? You know, what did you do? You destroyed my van. He didn't get angry at me. And so because I knew his heart from me, in the midst of making a mess, he was the first person I called. Because faith is always based on God's will toward you. When you know that you know that you know, there is no hole you can fall into that God will simply say, you know what? Climb out there on your own. When you know that you deserve punishment but God still doesn't desert you, you will call on him first. Faith always is born out of the understanding God will always pick up the phone. God will never abandon a person like me even if I am worth abandoning. Not only my dad came on the scene, but he did something that was illegal. But it's a gospel. What he did was the gospel. He took my place. If I would have been caught with an accident, my license would have been suspended at the time. And my premier would go through the roof. So what my dad did is he said, you go home. Police came and they said, who was in an accident? He says, I was. They raised his premium. It went on his account and I went clear. This is the message of the gospel. Somebody like, I wish I would have my dad like that too. I receive in Jesus' name. I have the faith in my father because not because I deserve it, but because I know one thing. My father doesn't desert me when I deserve punishment. Your heavenly father doesn't leave you. Maybe your earthly father will not help you. Maybe you do not have an earthly father, but I'm going to tell you about God in heaven who first introduced to us when the earth was a chaos, the spirit was very close. Maybe you don't feel him, but he is near and he is there to help you. He is there to change your darkness, to change your chaos into clarity and to change it into a beautiful garden of Eden. Can somebody say amen? In Isaiah there is a verse that is very powerful. In Isaiah you can put up the verse where God said, but Zion said, the Lord has forsaken me. And my Lord has forgotten me. And God replied, he said, can a woman forget her nursing child and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continuously before me. When Israel said God has forsaken us and honestly God had a reason to do so because they were wicked, because they were disobedient. But God replies back and he says, even when you're disobedient, even when you mess up, even when you are not good enough to yourself, God says, I can't forget about you. I do love you. And he says, if a mother can forget her nursing child, that's not possible. But God says, if it's possible, I cannot forget you. You're more dear to me than a nursing child to her mother. And God says, I have a proof. This is not just baloney. This is not just empty words I'm throwing out. These are not empty promises. God says, look at my hands. Look at my feet. Look at my side. I have scribes to prove I genuinely love you. These are not mere words. These are actions. My heart is open toward you. And when you are in darkness, when you are without void, call on me. Because I'm not too far from you. Faith starts when you know God is not against you. It doesn't mean that he doesn't get offended. He doesn't get hurt. It doesn't mean that God is not angry against the things that we've done. Nevertheless, as long as there's a breath in your nostrils, he doesn't desert us. If he would desert us, we are hopeless. We will never be able to find salvation, hope and healing. And if you think you're so bad and you're so messed up, if you think you're so inconsistent, everyone else is no better than you. Just some people are better at putting better images on Instagram than you. And that's it. But on the inside, we're all the same. In need of mercy, in need of God's forgiveness and in need of God's grace. None of us are born with some metal or some golden bones. We have the same human nature within us that needs the Holy Spirit to help us and faith begins when you understand God is for you. Can somebody say amen? I want you to read down point number two. Is that faith is the title deed of things hoped for. Faith is the title deed of things hoped for. The Holy Spirit in verse two, we see that he was close to the earth, to the mess on the earth. And then God said, let there be light. And the light came. Now for those of us who read the scriptures, we find out that the actual sun, moon and the stars came on day four. So the first question comes up to us now is where did the light come from? How come the light came on day one and the sun came on day four? So the light did not come from the sun because the sun came on day four. The light came from God who lives in the light. God likes light so much. He doesn't even have a night in heaven. He likes light so much. He doesn't even allow shadows in heaven. And he hates darkness so much that that's all he gave to the devil as a gift. The Bible says outer darkness. I don't know. I mean, I know darkness is bad. Outer darkness is like super size and steroids darkness like thick darkness. The Bible says that's he hates darkness. He doesn't like anything about God is light. It's positive. It's optimistic. If you think God walks around depressed, cranky, moody, angry, that's maybe like your parents, maybe you on your worst day, maybe your friends are like that. That is not God. Maybe some religious person, you know, God is full of light. He lives in the light. And on the first day he comes, he brings the light. And there was no reason for that light except him. There was no reason for the light except God. And on day four, we see the sun, the moon and the stars. This is a pattern that continues throughout the scriptures, where God gives you something on the inside that is so real, but it has no connection to your world on the outside. It's when God comes to Abraham and says, you are a father. He says, yes, I am, but you don't have children. So you're a father without children. He comes to Israel says, I give you the promised land. And they're still in the wilderness. They have land, yet they live in the wilderness. He comes to you and says, you are righteous. And you're still in your spiritual diapers, but you are righteous on the inside. Why? Because faith is the substance on the inside. In Hebrews 11, verse one, most of us know this verse. What it says now, faith is the substance. If you have an amplified Bible, or if you have a Bible that you can read in original Greek, you will find the word substance here is another word for hypostasis. Or assurance. Substance means it's not a feeling. It's actually a reality, inner reality. Faith is a substance of things hoped for. This is a beautiful explanation that faith is not hope. Hope is what you wish to have. Faith is you have it. You have substance means it's real already here of what you wish to have. Faith is not hoping something to happen. Faith is having something that already has happened here. Not on the outside, but here. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen. For a very long time, theologians had a very hard time explaining word hypostasis. They simply used the word substance, assurance, confidence. Until recently, they found out remains of one city that was burned down 2,000 years ago. One lady, she went to a court because somebody took her to court over a piece of property. And in this piece of property, she had papers to prove that she owned this piece of property. And so she went to the court and the court ruled against her, not in her favor. She sent her servant with a rock box and the title deed of her property to a higher court in Alexandria. And as this servant was going, he stayed a night in the hotel and the hotel caught on fire. Everything got destroyed and the court got dismissed. She never won the case. 2,000 years later, so some few decades ago, they find out the remains of that hotel. And this is the letter they find in the box of that stone. I want you to see exactly what this letter says if you can be alert. In order, so she writes this letter to the court. In order that my Lord, the judge may know that my appeal is just, I attach my hypostasis. Word hypostasis means assurance is another word you use, I use for title of the car or the house. So what God is saying, faith is a title deed of what you hope for. Faith is a title deed of what you hope for. It's a proof you have it. It's a reality. Faith is not just wishy-washy. It's not just what I want. It's what I have already on the inside. Amen. Title deed, I remember when I mean my wife purchased the land over here, not close to, not far from the church. Nothing changed with the land when it switched the owners. In a spiritual world, in an invisible legal world, the owner was no longer that lady, but it was me. But if you would drive by the land, nothing was different. Everything was the same on the outside. In the legal world, the land switched owners. And I received the title deed. When I received the title deed, then I was able to build in that land and take possession of that land. But until I had a title deed, I couldn't do anything with that land. Spiritually the same thing. When you receive a title deed, it means when what God says becomes so real to you through His spirit, it becomes your title deed. You don't walk around saying, I hope to have that. You walk around saying, I have that already. And then it manifests in your life. Now let me bring something as a correction. Hope comes from the potential promises of God. In the Bible, there are thousands of promises of God. You get hope by picking whatever you want, and that's what you get hope. You don't get faith like that. The Bible says faith comes from hearing and hearing of the word of God. That word, word of God, is word Reima. It's not what you pick, it's what God picks. It's what God the Spirit quickens in your heart and that becomes alive. This word explains why some people walk around saying, I am healed, I am healed, I am healed. And the other person walks around saying, I am healed and they're actually healed. There are times where I choose to believe in God's word. I choose to put hope in my heart. But that is different than Holy Spirit quickening that and creating a reality within me that I am healed. Now both are good. One is better. That means it's not about memorizing God's word. It's not about filling yourself just with God's word. It's allowing the Holy Spirit to acquicken God's word inside of you. Otherwise, God's word is a potential for everyone. It brings hope. But faith comes when God's word becomes a revelation, becomes real through the power of the Holy Spirit. Like Dr. Yungi Cho likes to say, the Bible is like rice. It's hard and stiff. But the revelation of the Bible is like cooked rice. It's very good for eating. The general Bible, it's like rice. You take it, you get hope, it's good. But when the Holy Spirit cooks it, the same verse for God so loved the world changes your world upside down. The same verse by his stripes, I am healed. You can name it, claim it, blab it, grab it, confess it, possess it. Until you just know it, you have it in Greek, you have it in Hebrew. But there is a difference when you have it in the Holy Spirit. Like Smith Wigginsworth said, he says, some like to read their Bible in Greek, some like to read their Bible in Hebrew. I like to read mine in the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit cooks the rice. He cooks the scripture. It makes it alive. And what happens inside of you, invisible tidal deed? You walk around not hoping, having. Not hoping, having. Look at our salvation. How did it happen with our salvation? The Holy Spirit took the word of God, made it alive, and he made salvation real. You have salvation here. You don't walk around saying, I hope I am saved. You walk around and say, I am saved. You haven't seen heaven yet, you haven't seen heaven in the Father yet. But you already know that because it's a tidal deed, a reality inside of you. Can somebody say a man? It's what happened a few years ago. Me and my wife, we gave a car to a couple in our church that was struggling. And we gave them a car on Sunday. We met with them for lunch. And then we said, we're going to give you a car. They broke down and crying. And they said, thank you so much. You know, they lost their car at that time. And it was a good gift for them. But I said, we can't actually give you the car right now because when I was driving, I had a few rough patches on my bumpers and we needed to change the tires. So we were going to fix the car. And then within a month and a half, we actually will give you the car fixed and done better. They walked from our house having a car, yet without a car. The only thing, you know what created a car inside of them? You know how they became owners of the car? Because I said something. It's my words that created a reality inside of their heart. They already called their parents. They called their friends. They already walked as the owners of the car, though the car wasn't there. That's exactly what happens here. God creates the light from His word and that brings the light. And on day four comes the sun, the moon and the stars. Faith is when God through the Holy Spirit quickens His word inside of you and you start to have it before you have it. Can somebody say amen? It's when you see yourself blessed before your wallet is blessed. Before your bank account is blessed. Before you actually have a job. You see yourself healed and healthy before the doctor's reports show that you're healthy and blessed. You see yourself as happy in marriage before even you get proposed to. You have it before you have it. Can somebody say amen? This is what faith is. It's having something before you actually have it. And last point is faith is believing what you don't see. A reward of faith is that you see what you believe. Faith is believing what you don't see. The reward of faith is you eventually see what you believe. I think it was St. Augustine that said this phrase. And day four came the moon, the sun and the stars. What happened on day one because of God's word became very real on day four. Apostle Peter tells us a very beautiful scripture. In the verse he says, Now we have this prophetic word confirmed which you do well to heed as a light that shines in the dark place until the day dawns. Peter is saying, you have this word from God? It's a light. He says, hold on to it. Until the whole room becomes light because the day will come into your life. God is saying, hold on to the promise. Hold on to my word that I quickened by my spirit that made you a possessor of the promise that made you a reality, changed your reality on the inside. Hold on to that. Why? Because until means they're coming a day where five, six, seven in the morning a day changes. Your circumstances completely change. Hold on to the light because on day four the moon, the sun and the stars will come. Hold on to the light because your life will change as your life has changed on the inside. You know, this is what happened to me personally also when my world on the inside was, I was not, didn't see myself as any significant or I had any gifts or any contribution to my community, to society, to the church and to other people, to the ability to speak or communicate or to bring a difference in other people's lives. But someone came and gave a word into my inner world. At first there was a small flickering light that God will use you, that God has a plan for your life. On the outside everything was contrary. For years everything was still the same. I was still struggling on the outside but as I held on to the light on the inside that this is what God says I am. This is what the word that was spoken over my life through my parents and my pastors. As I held on to that my outward circumstances came a moment and they started to change and the day came. I remember when I married my wife and she started to have nightmares the first few weeks of our marriage and these nightmares were so severe at times, so heavy and so crazy that, you know, she came to prayer line a few times and we prayed and ministered and I mean, I've used every version of the anointing water I had my hands on, on her and with her every anointing oil that I've had. I mean, I have good connections with good anointed things let's just say like that and everything just continued. I remember when a good pastor from Ukraine prayed for her Prophet T. B. Joshua minister one of the wise men ministered her I mean, I was like, that's all anointed men of God I know that they prayed for you and I'm like, maybe you're done. If this didn't work, Jesus is not going to work either now probably and Prophet T. B. Joshua spoke this word toward her and he says, you're free, you're free, you know and when you're standing in the room and T. B. Joshua speaking to you, you're free you're like, yes I am, until you get home and everything that was before that word just continued. The first thought that comes to my mind is T. B. Joshua is a false prophet or the thought that we started to believe on is this as you know what, he said this word hold on to it like a light of candle in a room the night you have a nightmare you wake up but you still tell yourself I am free. Why? Prophetic word confirmed until the day dawns honestly, it was about a year and a half of constant nightmares but what had happened with my wife and what had happened with me is we started to develop this truth when you hold on to the light from day one and there is still no sun, no moon, no stars day two, day three your day four is surely to come the circumstances will change circumstances are not as stubborn they're not as strong as God but God wants to develop within you a mindset, an attitude of a conqueror God is far more interested in making you on inside a different person than changing your circumstances God on the inside is far more interested in taking it through the process where he breaks down negativity breaks down the poverty, the sickness the things on the inside on the outside it's not the problem it's on the inside that's the problem and God takes us through that one day two, day three and when that begins to break down then you see the sun, the moon and the stars but hey, you had light before they came you had light that came from God the sun and the moon and the stars now you don't worship them and it's as though you don't really need them because the light, you've been having light way before this from the word from the reality of faith inside of you what are you struggling with today what are you going through with today we have prayer line next Sunday please come we're gonna pray for it right now but if you prayed every prayer if you've quoted every scripture if you've read everything that is there to read and you've had people pray for you and all of this stuff I wanna throw you a challenge today could it be that God started a day one in your life but you think why do I need light if I don't have the sun why do I need this word from God, this faith I just need my arthritis to be gone and that's it, I just need the moon and the sun and the stars but God doesn't work like that you don't squeeze and manipulate God into the corner that you like God is not running errands for us it's not God coming to us and saying you will be done it's us coming to God and saying God you will be done it's God starting a process has God started something inside of you that you've abandoned because they too nothing changed they tree nothing changed and you decided maybe God completely forsaken you what's the point of walking with this faith maintaining the attitude of I am a victor of my circumstances aren't changing my marriage isn't changing my health, my relationships people aren't changing in the way they are toward me what's the point you don't want to abandon because day four will come day four will come to end this with is that God did not make everything in one day you can destroy your whole life in one day you cannot rebuild it in one day it's a revelation right there you can destroy your whole completely everything in your life in one day just like you can burn your house in three hours you can never build your house in three hours you may say but God can do anything yes, he did not build the whole earth in one day which means he will not rebuild your whole life that took 20 to 15 years to bring it to a state it is one service in one sermon or in one week give God a slack we gave devil 20 years to mess us up we come to God put him on the clock of 20 minutes if you don't do something in 20 minutes I quit come on give him a break if he didn't do it with the earth he's not gonna do it with your life that means be patient it's gonna be okay it's gonna be a process another thing that I learned toward the end of this is God ended with saying not man there's so much more to do man when are the trees will show up when is those legs will show up I wanna see some crocodiles I wanna see some gorillas God ended each day though so much work still yet to be done he said this it is good the light came no moon no sun no stars no humans no garden of Eden nothing look at that you said it's a mess it's not good but God is so positive he looks at the mess but sees one right thing and he said it is good can you look at what God is doing in your family find one thing this Christmas and say it is good or are you gonna look at 99 things that are wrong and keep calling what they are wrong you will destroy your faith by obsessing with what is wrong instead of what is right you will destroy your inner reality by looking at what God hasn't done instead of looking at what he has done if he delivered you from depression but you still have sickness thank him for deliverance from depression as you are waiting for deliverance from that sickness if he brought your family your whole family can sit during Christmas together thank him that you can do that even if maybe still certain financial troubles are lingering around the table because there will be day 2 for that day 3 for that day 4 for that day 5 for that day 6 for that and day 7 for something else God will continue to work for those who are grateful for every step he does in their life instead of complaining and grumbling for what is still yet to be done when you come to our church and you notice things that are still yet to be done still a lot of work to be done well we thank God that the lights are on we thank God that the worship team sings we thank God that cameras are rolling we thank God that 220 people gave their life to Jesus this year we thank God that 52 people got baptized this year we thank God that we have seen home groups that are open this year that is so little because there will be days we are going to see 50 people baptized in one service there will be days we will see 200 people alive to Jesus in one service but today we celebrate what God is doing instead of remembering what hasn't been done can somebody say amen build your faith by focusing on what God is doing build your faith you will always have something to thank God for and you will always have something to complain about you can be beautiful or powerful but you can't be both at the same time let's choose to be powerful with the power of our grace in Jesus