In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of faith and the examples of faith in the Old Testament. He highlights the miraculous acts performed by individuals such as shutting the mouths of lions, slaying Goliath, and parting the Red Sea. However, the speaker states that there is something even better than these acts of faith. He reveals that the ultimate example of faith is Jesus, who did not perform these physical miracles but demonstrated faith in God. The speaker encourages the audience to have faith in God and trust that He can help them overcome their challenges and put their struggles under their feet.

We've been thinking together about the better covenant. Something better that Jesus has brought us than Moses brought for the Israelites under the old covenant. They knew him as God, we know him as Father. They lived under law, we live under grace. And to know God as Father is as much greater than knowing him as God, as Jesus is higher than Moses. Grace is as much higher than law, as Jesus is higher than Moses. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7 says, we walk by faith, not by sight. We may think that if we could see, it would be better. The Old Testament people lived by sight. Do you know that to walk by faith is as much superior to walking by sight as Jesus is higher than Moses? And don't let anyone deceive us on that. Do you know what Jesus said to Thomas in John chapter 20? Thomas was one who wanted to see, and he saw, and he believed. Jesus said to him in John 20 verse 29, because you have seen me, you have believed. But blessed are those who did not see and yet believed. Thomas, what you have experienced is second best. What those who do not see and believe, what they will experience is the best. Now this doesn't appear right to our senses or to our understanding. Many of us may wish to, if only I could see Jesus, there are people who talk about having seen angels, and even Jesus, well, I'm not here to judge them, I don't know whether it's right or wrong, whether they're imagining or they had a dream or what, but whatever it is, I believe with all my heart that it's more blessed to walk by faith than by sight. Jesus said those words. This is one of the Beatitudes, which is not mentioned in Matthew chapter 5. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed, which includes, it certainly includes me. I've never seen a light or an angel or Jesus, never heard an audible voice of God anytime in my life, but I've learned to live by faith, and it's the most wonderful life you can ever live. The Apostle Peter said, whom having not seen, you love, loving someone you haven't seen, and you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. The Christian life is a life of faith, and this is so important that the Bible says in Hebrews 11 and verse 6, Hebrews 11 verse 6, without faith it is impossible to please God. What if you live a good, upright life, where you do good to others, you don't harm anybody, but you don't have faith? Impossible to please God. What if you give all your money to Christian missions, live a sacrificial life, but you don't have faith? You cannot please God. Impossible. We can do so many good things. We can consider ourselves righteous in many ways, sacrificial, supporting Christian work, faithful members of our church for 50 years, and yet if we don't have faith, the Bible says you cannot please God, and we will discover that. If we don't discover that now, we'll discover that when we stand before God, that God's word is true. It is impossible to please God without faith, and faith is essentially a very simple thing. Unfortunately, I don't know much about how it's here, but I would say a lot of people in India, their understanding of faith has not come from the Bible. Their understanding of faith has come from certain types of Christian magazines and books that emphasize a type of faith which is entirely related to possessing earthly things, to possessing physical healing, prosperity, and things like that. That is not the faith the Bible speaks about. The Bible says Jesus is the author of my faith, and Jesus was not a wealthy man. He was a poor man. It wasn't faith to make money or to live in grand houses or own big cars. It was faith to live an overcoming life. It was faith to live a life that pleased God morning till night. Faith to live in victory over sin, to put the devil under our feet. That was more important to Jesus than what type of house He lived in. That was the faith which He seeks to author in me. He's called the author and finisher of our faith. I want you to notice that in Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11 we read there is a wonderful description of all these Old Testament saints. And these Old Testament saints, even though they lived in the Old Testament, they lived by faith, it says. Not lived by faith, but they did certain things by faith. They did not live by faith. Today we live by faith. Their faith was related to certain actions, external actions. Abel offered an external sacrifice by faith. And Noah built an ark by faith. And Abraham offered up Isaac by faith. Moses split the Red Sea by faith. And Joshua pulled down the walls of Jericho by faith. Daniel shut the mouths of lions by faith. All these people are described here. And some received their dead back in resurrection, verse 35. And then it says, all of these gained approval, verse 39. But, now listen to this. This is the most important verse of Hebrews 11 for us. But, verse 40, God has provided something better for us. What is this better thing that God provided for us? Something better than shutting the mouths of lions. Something better than slaying Goliath. Something better than turning armies of aliens away and splitting the Red Sea and pulling down the walls of Jericho and stopping the sun. Something better than all this. And that is the last person whose name comes there. The first four verses of chapter 12 should actually be the last verses of Hebrews 11. By faith, Jesus. Okay, we have read all that these people did by faith in the Old Testament. And now we come to what Jesus did by faith. He didn't shut the mouths of lions. He didn't pull down the walls of any city. He didn't split any sea. What did He do? He endured the cross. Verse 2, that doesn't sound very exciting. Despised the shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. His was an inner walk with the Father, where He never did His own will. That's basically the meaning of endured the cross. The cross is where my will crosses God's will. And I do God's will. And that's how Jesus lived all His life. He said in John 6, 38, I've come from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. He lived, my own will is sin, doing God's will is holiness. He lived in holiness all His life. He despised the shame of people and He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God and it says, let us run this race, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Very often people look for faith and this is how it was with me. I thought, how can I get this faith? If I could have faith, I could have everything and I was always looking for faith to come in my heart. I was always looking for faith inside me, till I discovered that faith has got nothing to do with what's inside me and that liberated me. You see, if I were to cross, if I had to cross a river and there was a rickety old wooden trunk, tree trunk half eaten up across that river, well, I wouldn't have much faith to walk upon that half eaten tree trunk across the river. But if I saw a concrete bridge across the river, I would walk across it. How could I walk across one and not across the other? It had nothing to do with what was inside me. My faith was residing in an object outside of me. Faith is based on what I see outside, it's not in me. I can never have faith in that dried up old tree trunk, but I'm gladly across the river, across the solid concrete bridge. Or take another illustration, here is a bank that just opened yesterday with three or four people who got together, unreliable people, I don't have much confidence in putting my money in that bank, neither would you. But here is a bank next door that's been going for a hundred years, perhaps approved by the government of the country, I would gladly go and put all my money in there, that's faith. It's got nothing to do with something inside me, it's got to do with an object outside of me, whether the concrete bridge or this hundred year old bank. It's the same with faith in Jesus, it's got nothing to do with what's inside me. Is Jesus a reliable person or not? That's all. And when you don't have faith, you're saying he's not reliable. When I don't put my money in that bank, I'm saying this bank's not reliable. When I don't put my foot on that rotten tree trunk, I'm saying this bridge is not reliable. When I do put my feet over the concrete bridge on that, I'm saying this one is reliable. That is faith. And that's why it's such an insult to the Lord when we don't trust him. We're saying, I can't trust you. I'm not sure whether you'll let me down. I'm not sure whether when I've gone halfway across, this whole thing is going to collapse, whether this bank is going to crash, whether the Lord is going to let me down. Do you know that the failure of Eve in the Garden of Eden was essentially a failure of faith? The disobedience came out of unbelief. When the devil suggested to her, and the devil was insinuating, if you read between the devil's lines and what he said to Eve, what he was trying to put into Eve's mind was, look at that beautiful tree. Doesn't that fruit make your mouth water? And you know that that thing can make you wise. It'll make you like God. And God doesn't want you to be like him. He doesn't love you. Yeah, yeah, he's given you all these things and done a few things for you, but he doesn't really love you. If he loved you, he'd allow you to eat that beautiful tree. And once the seed of doubt in the love of God had been planted in Eve's mind, it was a small step to make her disobey. And that's how the devil approaches us too. Because sin came by unbelief, salvation had to come by faith. Faith in what? In the very thing that Eve lost her faith in, the love of God. Faith is essentially believing that God loves me. And God's love is unconditional. Human love is conditional. I love you, if you respond, I'll continue to love you. Divine love is unconditional. God so loved the world while we were enemies, he loved us. When we hated him, he loved us. When we had no interest in him, he pursued after us. That's divine love. And when he never saw a response in some of us for many, many years, we spurned his love. He still came after us. Is it difficult to have faith in such a God who pursued after us when we were not interested in him? How many of us responded to the gospel the very first time we heard it? Not me. There are very, very few people in the world who could say that. But God pursued after us with his love. The hound of heaven came after us till he got us. That's divine love. And faith is to believe that God is love. Perfect love. That everything he plans for me is for my good. That every command he's given in scripture is for my good, first of all. And it is possible for me to obey. That's faith. I will never ask my little boy to carry a five ton weight on his head and then when he can't do it, punish him. Would there be any father like that? If you being evil, know how not to put five ton weights on your children's head. How much more? Your heavenly father will not give you commands in scripture which are impossible of obedience. Rejoice in the Lord always. Is that a burden? I praise the Lord for the tremendous possibility of being able to live a life where I can rejoice always. Be anxious for nothing. Is that a burdensome life? Is there a single command in scripture? Which is like a five ton weight that a cruel father is putting on a child's head? The devil has for centuries, for millenniums, portrayed God as a God who makes impossible demands upon his people. And Jesus lived a life to show that the devil was a liar. And he says to us, As the father sent me, so send I you. Go out into the world and prove by your life that the devil is a liar. Have you taken that challenge? We can only do it by faith. Faith has got two sides to it. One is John 15 verse 5. Without me, you can do nothing. The other side of the coin is Philippians 4 verse 13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. This is faith. Faith is to recognize that without God I can do nothing. And to recognize that if Jesus Christ helps me, there is nothing that he has commanded me which I cannot do. I am sorry that I wasted so many years of my life not understanding this. Looking for faith inside me and never finding it. Till I realized that it had nothing to do with me. It had just to do with confidence in God. Dependence upon God. I realized that faith is that leaning of the human personality. In total confidence. In God's perfect love for me. In his perfect wisdom. That's given me commands and that's planned my life. And in his almighty power. That works everything for my good. That controls the circumstances and people that come into my life. This is faith. It's confidence in God. Dependence upon God. It's got nothing to do with me. It's putting my foot on a concrete bridge. It's putting my money into a reliable bank. Well, give glory to the bank if the bank didn't crash. It's got nothing to do with me. If you see me walking across a concrete bridge. Relaxed. Would you say, Boy, what faith brother. What faith you have to walk across it. That's not faith. The bridge is so strong. And you take the same person and put him across that rickety old tree. And I'd be watching every step. How is it the same person suddenly has unbelief and suddenly has faith. You see how faith has got nothing to do with what's inside. Don't look for faith inside of you. It's in Christ. Do you have confidence that this is God's word. That he loves us. That every command that he's given is for our good. That every command he's given is possible. That when he says, Sin shall not have mastery over you. It is possible in your life. The sin that's ruled you for so many years. You can overcome it. Why is the example of the Israelites perishing in the wilderness mentioned three times. In the New Testament. Three times in the New Testament. We are warned. Those whom the Lord saved out of Egypt. Perished in the wilderness. Without entering Canaan. The gospel. Hebrews 4 says, This is a gospel that they heard. I don't have time to show you all those references. Read Hebrews chapter 3 and chapter 4 sometime. This is a gospel that they heard. The gospel was Exodus 3 verse 14 onwards. I will take you out of Egypt. And I will bring you into Canaan. There were two sides to that gospel. One negative. One positive. I will take you out of Egypt. I will bring you into Canaan. And that promise was not fulfilled. In the lives of all those people who heard it. Those elders of Israel. To whom Moses spoke the word of the Lord. Sometimes we think God's promises are automatically fulfilled. They were not. Those elders who heard it. Not one of them entered the land. There were two young men called Joshua and Caleb. Who entered the land. We read that when they came to the borders of the promised land. In Numbers chapter 13 and chapter 14. They saw the giants. And those giants are a picture. Of the sins that defeat you. The sin that easily besets us. The giant that stands up in your flesh and says. You'll never be able to conquer me. That bad mood that you often have at home. Which makes your home so unhappy for your husband. Or your wife. Or your children. That irritability. That anger. That lust. That pollutes your mind and makes you ineffective for God. That covetousness and greed. That jealousy. That bitterness. Which you can't seem to get over. These are the giants that stand up and say to you. You'll never conquer me. And you look at these giants that have ruled your life for years. And you look like grasshoppers. That's what those Israelites said. And they said we can't go in. And that's exactly what many of you are saying. I'll never be able to conquer this. That's my temperament. That's because I've been sick for so long. Or that's because I'm passing through a particular phase in my life. And the doctors say these things happen when we are like this. What? You believe the doctors and you don't believe God's word? When God's word says sin shall not have dominion over you if you are under grace. You are worried about what the doctors say. That your temperament is such. Or this is a particular phase in your life where you have to be depressed and gloomy. And make life miserable for everybody else. No. I want to challenge you to believe the word of God. Does God want me to be moody and gloomy? Even for 5 minutes? Never. I remember when I read that verse. Rejoice in the Lord always again I say rejoice. I said Lord I understand always it means 24 hours a day. It means 7 days a week. It's 24-7. That's rejoice. Rejoice 24-7. And I said Lord. I have to admit. I am not doing that. Do you know the first step to faith? Is to acknowledge your failure. Some people are too proud to acknowledge failure. They've got some theory of victory. And imagine that they are living in victory when everybody around them knows that they've got a bad mood. They are irritable. They are not rejoicing always. What type of victory is that? Their faces are so long. It's like that Christian I heard who was witnessing to somebody with a long face. And asked him do you want to be a Christian? He said no thank you I've got enough problems already. That's not a good recommendation for Christianity. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. A righteousness without joy is an old covenant righteousness. The kingdom of God, new covenant righteousness is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It's something which fills my heart with joy. That is the type of life God wants us to live everyday. And when I first saw this many years ago. And I said Lord that's not true in my life. But I want this life. I used to be depressed so often in my life. And yet I knew that being depressed and gloomy even for one day was not a good testimony as a Christian. And I saw the tremendous possibility that the gospel opened up for me. To live a life where I would never be in a bad mood. Ever. Not in the morning, not in the afternoon, not at night, not on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, any day of the week, any day of the year. That's what it means to be rejoiced in the Lord always. Now as you hear that. I can hear the devil saying don't you believe all this. That's not for you. That's just for some people. And you believe that lie of the devil so long that you live like that. I want to say to you in Jesus name. Tell the devil he's a liar. He's a liar. He's been a liar from the beginning. I told the devil he was a liar. I said Lord, I said Satan you've made me depressed as a Christian so often. You're not going to do that anymore to me. I'm going to obey God's word. I'm going to rejoice in the Lord always. And I believe I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It comes in the same chapter by the way. Philippians 4.4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Philippians 4.13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Such a life is possible. And today I want to stand before you and say for the glory of God. God did it in my life. It's taken place by the grace of God. Bad moods have disappeared from my life 24-7. Is that something great? Joshua and Caleb entered the promised land. Not because their muscles were more than the muscles of the 600,000 who perished in the wilderness. It's because they said our God is able to handle these giants. I had giants in my life. I didn't conquer them. God helped me to put them under my feet. And I want to say to you. There is nothing that dishonors Christ in your life that God will not help you to put under your feet. I don't care what it is. If you can trust him. But there is this law in scripture. It's a law found in Matthew's gospel chapter 9. Matthew chapter 9 and verse. It says here in verse 28 and 29. Speaking about the two blind men. Who followed Jesus. And said in verse 27. Have mercy on us son of David. Matthew 9.27 And after he had come into the house the blind men came up to him and Jesus said to them. He first asked them what he wanted. That comes in another gospel. He asked them what do you want me to do for you. That Lord please open our eyes. And the Lord did not open their eyes before he asked them one more question. You go to the Lord today and say Lord I want victory over my depression. I want victory over the lust of the eyes. I want victory over bitterness. I want victory over this foul temper. I want victory over bad moods. I want to rejoice in the Lord always. I want to be anxious for nothing. I want to trust in you. That sin will no sin will ever have the mastery over me. No conscious sin that is. Nothing that I know to be sin. I'll have victory over all conscious sin. And the Lord says I'll do that for you. But I have to ask you a question. Same question he asked these blind men. Do you believe that I am able. You know the important words there. I am able. Do you believe Jesus says not that you are able. I'm not interested. He didn't tell them to go back home and do eye exercises for a few months. And you know try and sit in the sun and let the sun fall. He wasn't teaching them all this type of treatment. He was only asking them one question. Do you believe that I am able to do this for you. And the Lord is not asking you. Are you willing to grit your teeth and determine that you'll never get angry again. He's not asking you that. He didn't ask those blind people to do any eye exercises. He asked them one simple question which is what he asked you today. Do you believe that I am able to do this. It's got nothing to do with your ability. Do you believe that Jesus is able to keep you from stumbling. Do you believe that God Almighty can slay those giants. 600,000 people who were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb said no. Two people Joshua and Caleb said yes. And in my experience in traveling to many countries. I'm sorry to say I've discovered that the proportion is about the same today. 600,000 believers redeemed by the blood of the Lamb will say. It's not possible to live 24-7 free from bad moods. Two people will say yes. And the two people enter in. That's the question the Lord asked the disciple, the blind man. Do you believe that I am able to do this for you. And they said yes Lord. And here's the law, verse 29. Be it done to you. Not according to my faith. Not according to your desire. Not according to my desire. But according to your faith. Do you know how much God will do for you? Not what you desire. Not what God desires. But how much you can have faith for. You may desire many things. You'll never get them. God may desire many things for you. You'll never get them. You'll get as much as you have faith for. Be it done for you. Not according to your desire. Not according to God's desire for you. If it was according to your desire and my desire. We'd have got millions of things by now. We'd have got victory over hundreds of sins by now. If it was according to God's desire. We'd all have become like Jesus by now. Every one of us. We wouldn't need a Keswick Convention. We'd all have become like Jesus. We'd be ready to go to heaven. But it's not according to God's desire. It's not according to your desire. It's according to your faith. And I've thought of it like this. If one of the blind men said, Well Lord, I'm not so sure whether you can open both eyes. But I believe you can open at least one. And that will be good enough for me. I could see the road. I could read and things like that. I trust you for one eye. You know what the Lord would have said to him? According to your faith. Be it unto you. He'd have come out with one eye open and say, Hallelujah! Praise God! I can see. I can read. And the other blind man would go in. And the Lord would say, What about you? He'd say, Lord, you've got no problem. You can open both eyes. And he'd come out with both eyes open. And these people would look at one another. And the man with one eye open would say, Hey, how in the world did you get both eyes open? I've got only one eye open. This is a false teaching. That God can open two eyes. And the man with one eye open would start the one-eyed denomination. And the other man with two eyes would open the two-eyed denomination. And each would call the other a heretic. I'm not telling fables. This is actually happening in Christendom today. The man who believes, Jesus can forgive all my sins. My sins are all forgiven. I'm on my way to heaven. Praise God. He's got one eye open. The other fellow went and trusted the Lord, not only for sins forgiven and for heaven. He also trusted the Lord that sin would not have dominion over him. That he'd be able to overcome sin. That he'd be able to rejoice in the Lord always. That he'd be able to overcome lust and bitterness and anger. That he could live without a bad mood 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And the one-eyed man would call him a heretic. Oh, that's all lies. The Lord was not partial to either of them. To both of them he said, According to your faith, be it unto you. Some other person says, Yes, Lord, I'm going to do eye exercises. And I'm going to grit my teeth. I'm going to put my flesh to death. I'm going to deny myself and do that. And one of these days I'll get my eyes open. Okay, go ahead. And what's the result of some of these people who do all these things for so many years? They are some of the most miserable people. Pharisees of the first order that I've seen on the face of the earth. Do you want to be like that? Or you want to come simply to Jesus in simple faith and say, Lord, I believe you are able to do it for me. And when God does it for you, you can't take any credit. You see a man who's proud of his holiness. That's his human produced holiness. It's a counterfeit. You see a man whom God has made holy by the work of His Holy Spirit. And there's no pride in him. He's a humble broken man who recognizes that God did it all. I've seen plenty of Pharisees on the face of the earth. You think they're finished in the first century? No. They're hale and hearty alive today in every Christian denomination. People who are conceited and proud. Who are so proud that they think they're so holy. They're denying themselves. They're taking up the cross. They're putting the flesh to death. They're so separated from the world. And they are superior to so many other Christians. Stinking Pharisees of the first order. God says, they are a stench in my nostrils. People who say, stand by me, I'm holier than you. The Lord speaks about them in Isaiah 65. There are many like that. I'm not talking about that type of counterfeit. I'm talking about a work that God has done where you can get no glory. You see, let me use an illustration. Supposing I wrote a book. And you read it. And you were so blessed by it. And you say, Brother Zach, that was wonderful. I'd be tempted to be proud of it. But if I passed on to you a book written by somebody else. And you said, boy, Brother Zach, that was a wonderful book you gave me. I won't even be tempted to be proud. Because I never wrote it. Somebody else wrote it. If you have a holiness that came by gritting your teeth. Putting your flesh to death. And doing 101 things disciplined and all that. And you get holy. And people appreciate your holiness, you're going to be pretty proud of it. And even if people don't appreciate it, you'll be pretty proud of it. And everybody will be able to smell your pride. That's a holiness produced by yourself. It's a counterfeit. But if it is really produced by God. Where you believe that He was able to make you holy. It will be like a book written by somebody else. The Lord says, I will write my laws in your heart and in your mind. It's not my business. That was the Old Testament. Thou shalt, thou shalt not, thou shalt, thou shalt not. I'm finished with that. I tried that for years, even as a Christian. I lived under law as a Christian for so many years. And I'll tell you, it didn't work. It could work for a few days, perhaps after a convention or something. Where we got all stirred up and revived. It's like giving an injection to a dying man. And he pops up and he jumps about and you think he's alive. But as the effect of the injection wears out, he's back in bed again. That's how a lot of Christians are a few weeks after the convention is over. The effect of the injection is worn out. It's not the real thing. But when God does a work, it's permanent. The path of the righteous is like the shining light that shines more and more into the perfect day. It gets better every year. I can testify to that. When the life of Jesus comes in, when we live by faith, we say, Lord, I trust you to do it. I can never do it. I tried for years to do it. But it doesn't work. One of the beautiful examples of that is in the miracle that Jesus did after his resurrection. Do you know the miracle that Jesus did after his resurrection? John chapter 21, where he filled the boat with fish. The one miracle that he did after his resurrection was to teach us a lesson on faith. Those disciples went out at 6 o'clock in the evening to fish. Think of this as somebody trying to get victory over sin. Or think of it as somebody trying to do an effective ministry for the Lord. They go out fishing. And they try 7 o'clock, 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock. No fish. 10, 11, 12. And they're about to get discouraged and 3, 4 o'clock in the morning they say, Okay, we'll give it one more try. And they try until about 5 o'clock. They say, Okay, let's pack up. It's impossible. They tried every possible way. They were expert fishermen. And they couldn't get a single fish. And then Jesus came and said, Cast your net on the right side. And in a moment, their boat was full. What they could not accomplish through hours and hours of struggle, In a moment, when they trusted in the Lord, their boat was full. What a parable. Is that how you find yourself today? I found myself like that in my ministry. My ministry was a struggle. But I found it changed when I learned to lean upon Jesus. And trust in Him. I love that song which says, There is a place of quiet rest. Near to the heart of God. A place where sin cannot molest. Near to the heart of God. I want to say to you, my brothers and sisters, I thank God I found that place. And it wasn't by struggle. I tried the struggle method for years. But I was defeated. My boat was empty. But I finally came to the end of myself. Have you come to the end of yourself? It seems to me that we have to come to an end of ourselves. Before we can enter the promised land. There is a lovely verse in the book of Deuteronomy. In chapter 2. I think it is chapter 2. Deuteronomy chapter 2. In verse 14. It says here, The time that it took for us to come from Kedesh Barnea. Kedesh Barnea was the place where they were told to go into the promised land. And they backed away in unbelief. That was chapter 14. From that time until we crossed over into the promised land through the brook Zered. Was 38 years. They spent 2 years to come from the Red Sea to Kedesh Barnea. The Lord said go in. They didn't go in. They wandered another 38 years in the wilderness. Making a total of 40 years. And this is the part I want you to notice. Until all the generation of the men of war perished. See we have got men of war within us. Who are determined to grit our teeth. Put the flesh to death. Deny ourselves. Men of war. Determined to get victory. They have all got to die. Until all the men of war perished. I had men of war in me. I was determined to get victory. I tried every method. Denying myself. Putting the flesh to death. This doctrine. That doctrine. I tried every doctrine of holiness. That there is in Christendom. And I tell you they all failed me. And I finally discovered. What I needed was faith. That God loved me. Just as he loved Jesus. That what he did for Jesus. He would do for me. That as he enabled Jesus to live a life of victory. Every day on earth. He would enable me. Because he loved me just the same. I was the younger brother of Jesus. I was also beloved of the Father. That faith brought me into the land. And I saw that as my elder brother Jesus. Jesus never had a bad mood. He was never irritable. He was never long faced and gloomy. Anytime. He was never upset. He never blamed his. Oh people made me very tired. I went to bed last night. He had no excuses. He was always rejoicing. Whether he went to bed at 2 o'clock at night. Or 8 o'clock at night. It didn't make a difference. We always make excuses. When the real reason is our pride. The men of war. Have not perished in us. We have not come to an end of ourselves. How long does it take. To come to a life of victory. These people took 38 years. Because that's how long it took for the men of war to perish. It doesn't have to take that long. It can take 38 days. When your strength comes to zero. As soon as that happens. That's why God allows so many circumstances to come into our life to shatter us. Until we are shattered. We don't realize. That we are too strong. That's why we can't have faith. We can't have faith because we are too strong. God has to make us weak. God had to make the mighty apostle weak. With a thorn in the flesh that battered him and harassed him. So that he could live by faith. In the Old Testament. There were two commandments that God gave. Which are very very important. They were so important that if you didn't keep them. You would be cut off. You could even be killed. One was circumcision. Genesis 15. Verse 14 I think it is. The Lord told Abraham. 17 verse 14. If any of your seed are not circumcised. They will be cut off. The other was the Sabbath. Exodus 31. Verse 15. Anyone who doesn't keep the Sabbath. Will be killed. What did the circumcision and the Sabbath. Which we don't practice today. Mean for us. They must be having a spiritual meaning. If they were so serious. That God said. They would be cut off. Philippians 3.3 tells us. What the circumcision is. It means no confidence in the flesh. You see circumcision was a cutting off of the flesh. And throwing it away. Symbolizing. No confidence in the flesh. Total confidence in God. No confidence in my ability. That is circumcision. The circumcision of the heart. That the Bible speaks of. Is to say Lord. I have zero confidence in my own ability. I cut off confidence in the flesh and throw it away. I have total confidence in you. That is circumcision. That is a life of faith. Without you I can do nothing. With you I can do all things. What about the Sabbath? That's explained to us in Hebrews chapter 3 and chapter 4. As the rest of God. As I said yesterday. Adam didn't work. God worked. For six days. In Hebrews chapter 4 says. He who has seized from his own works. Enters into God's rest. That's what Adam did. He didn't work. When we stop fishing. When the men of war perish. When we stop working. And start trusting. Think of the multitudes of people in the world today. Who are trying to work. To get forgiveness of sins. How did you get it without working? To him that does not work. Paul says in Romans 4. But believes. In him who justifies the ungodly. His faith is counted as righteousness. Tell that to all the heathen religions in the world. They'd say that's rubbish. We got to work. We got to do something. Otherwise God will never forgive us. And they're trying, trying, trying, trying. And you and I have the joy of forgiveness of sins. Which they don't have. What is the secret they've missed? They're working. We trusted. I say the same thing to many Christians. Why is it you don't have victory? How is it somebody else got it? You're working. They're trusting. That's the difference. You're trying to deny yourself. Put the flesh to death. Discipline yourself. Get up. Read the Bible for half an hour. And do so many things like that. And look at the bad moods you get in during the day. According to your faith. Be it unto you. Do you believe the Lord says that I am able. He is able. To do exceeding abundantly. Above all that you can ask or think. He is able. To keep you from falling. Trust Him. Spar heads before God. The life of faith is very simple. Many preachers have made it complicated. Jesus said you must become like little child. He said I thank you Father that you have hidden these things from the clever and the intelligent. And you reveal them to babes. You find in your heart this afternoon a hunger. A thirst. A longing. As you see your empty boat. Say Lord. There's something I've missed. In the Christian life. There's a secret somewhere. I seem to have missed. And all my struggling and my praying and my fasting doesn't seem to have got it for me. Open my eyes Lord. I want to come to you as a little child. I'm sick and tired of trying. I want to believe. You are able. You are able to lead me into this life. Thank you Lord. I want to trust you. I'm not looking for faith in myself. I'm looking at you. I have total confidence in you Lord. Zero confidence in myself. And I want to enter into this walk of faith. To this life of faith. Total confidence in God. Total dependence upon God. Heavenly Father. Help us to enter in. And live this life all our days. In Jesus name. Amen.