Empowered Living: Balancing Faith and Action

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. We have considered why this is essential, absolutely essential, and how we are completely lost and defeated and undone without it. Therefore, we've been spending some time in discovering exactly what it means to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." [00:10:45]

"We are to exert ourselves with all our might and M But realize even as we do so that that is totally insufficient, that we must be strengthened with his Almighty power as we do everything we can in this way. In other words, the doctrine is that in the rebirth we are given a new principle of life, and in that life there is inherently of necessity power and strength." [00:19:33]

"Practically, living out our faith means believing in the promises of God, practicing His presence, and growing in grace. It requires time and diligence, not a quick fix or a second blessing. Faith involves action; it is not mere intellectual assent. Like the man with the withered hand who was commanded to stretch it forth, we must act on our faith to experience God's power." [00:12:46]

"Faith is entirely different from a mere intellectual ascent and belief. Faith is always the putting of the thing into practice and in into operation. I'm tempted to repeat the story that has been told in order to illustrate that of the men who were standing on one side of the Niagara Falls and there was a man one of these men who could walk over on a rope." [00:15:06]

"Faith gets into the wheelbarrow; it believes it to such an extent that it begins to practice it. Now, this is, I say, a fundamental principle with regard to Faith. There was a very good expression of it in that 34th Psalm which we read at the beginning this morning, and I read it in order to remind you of this principle." [00:16:04]

"Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. You will never know this until you're practicing it. But come, there is a yet better illustration, it seems to me, which brings out still further elements. Now, I hope that we're all clear as to what I'm doing. I am not using the Miracles in order to teach sanctification." [00:25:35]

"Peter has to make the move. He has to, when Peter was come down out of the ship, the thing isn't done to Peter or for Peter. Peter now, who had never walked on the waves in his life before, believing this word, gets out of the boat and begins to put his feet onto the waves, and he begins to walk on the waves." [00:27:29]

"Trust in God and keep your powder dry. You don't just trust in God and do nothing. You've got to fight, keep your powder dry, make certain that you can use it in the thick and the Heat of the battle. But you notice the order: trust in God and keep your powder dry." [00:38:14]

"Faith involves action; it is not mere intellectual assent. Like the man with the withered hand who was commanded to stretch it forth, we must act on our faith to experience God's power. The enabling power is often found in the command itself, as seen in the miracles of Jesus and the apostles." [00:24:44]

"Now, you see, the danger is always to go to one or other of these two extremes. The moralists, the ethicists who are doing it all themselves, they think the people who say, 'Oh yes, I used to believe the whole of the Christian faith, but I've grown up now, I've rejected all the dogmas, but I'm holding on to the ethic.' That's wrong." [00:34:25]

"Faith is not passive; it requires our active participation. We must exert ourselves with all our might, recognizing that our efforts alone are insufficient. The power we need comes from God, and it is through our union with Him that we receive strength." [00:01:52]

"Faith involves action; it is not mere intellectual assent. Like the man with the withered hand who was commanded to stretch it forth, we must act on our faith to experience God's power. The enabling power is often found in the command itself, as seen in the miracles of Jesus and the apostles." [00:24:44]