Transforming Faith: From Superficiality to Inner Healing
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Jesus is able to see the state of the heart of a human being and he's concerned with the state of the heart of those that he's ministering to or to put it a better way he cares about what's on the inside and inside is where the hurt is you may have heard that phrase sticks and stones that may hurt you on the outside there's hurts that are on the inside that people don't see that we harbor that's where real life hurts are real life we get we get broken bones and scrapes we get sicknesses colds flus we get these things we usually get over them but the real brokenness that you can't see is that is that brokenness on the inside the real sort of malformations of the heart and of the spirit and for our entire lives these things are deep inside of us and i put it to you that these are spiritual hurts spiritual hurts that need spiritual healing not medicine. [00:06:54] (70 seconds)
The mercy, the justice thing, that's hard. Having God change the inner man, that's difficult. But you know what? Tithing's not so hard. I'll do that. I remember having a conversation with Brother Neil and I was talking with him about tithing and giving and there was a... I can't quite remember all the just of the matter that we were kind of talking about or what was the important piece to me. But the main thing I remember him saying is, ... ... ... God doesn't need your money. And I was like, okay, I grew up in a pastor's home, a home mission's home. I know the expenses that it takes to run a church where people can come together and gather and worship. It takes funds and money. That funds and money comes from giving. I've been giving since I was able to look at cash and count it. I think he kind of does need my money. And he said, no, he doesn't need your money. He's got cattle on a thousand hills. There's something more to what's happening there than you giving God money. It's in here. But if you take it from out of there and put it just to the balance sheet, that's superficial. [00:20:08] (82 seconds)
And now you're missing the mark. And now like these Pharisees, you're just counting out all the amount of time that you have, gathering it all up, snipping off the little bits and pieces, gathering everything just so, and making sure it goes. But you're leaving the inside alone. You're washing the cup, but not the inside. So don't trust the surface. I think if anything, that group of young people learnt is to trust things that look okay. Not to trust things that look okay. But to test them. That balcony looked fine. It looked great. But underneath, there was something wrong. And that's an extreme example. But don't trust the way things look. I think we all know this and we agree on this, that we can't trust just the things we see. [00:21:29] (61 seconds)
There's a reason why the Scripture says walk by faith and not by sight. It doesn't say by smell or by hearing or by intuition or feeling. It says don't walk by sight. Because that's what we put our trust in. That's what we put our trust in. And the bad thing about that is what you see is so easily mimicked. and changed. You know, we have sayings like... Okay, Walk by Faith, Not by Sight is a scriptural one, but don't judge a book by its cover. All that glitters isn't gold. Looks can be deceiving. And this was one that I found that I like. It says, clothes don't make a man. I didn't know that was a saying, but I read it. I thought, yeah, fair enough. You can wear it, but you're not gonna really come out to anything. [00:22:21] (51 seconds)
the point Jesus is trying to make here is that you cannot act your way into the kingdom of God. You cannot impersonate yourself that way. So what do we do? We invite Jesus in to the inside. Not to the outside. Not just for lunch. We invite him in. Jesus, having him in your life is life -changing. And not just a bit of cold water poured over dirty hands. But like cold water to a thirsty soul and a cleanliness that starts on the inside. The change that Jesus brings is true. It's lasting. It's evidence of salvation and not ceremony. [00:27:33] (57 seconds)
Speaking in tongues is not a ceremonial rite that you perform to feel better about yourself. It is evidence of what God is doing on the inside. And it is evidence of salvation. But in and itself isn't salvation. It's evidence of what God has done on the inside. On the inside. People will ask sometimes, okay, it's receiving the Holy Ghost necessary for salvation. Well, I tell you that it is salvation. That's how you're saved. That's how you're saved. You have to have Christ in your heart reconciling you and changing you and cleaning you on the inside. And then that inside comes out to the outside. He works from there. And the Pharisee, he invited Jesus into his home, but he didn't invite Jesus into his life. He didn't invite Jesus into his thinking. And he didn't adjust what he thought. [00:28:38] (68 seconds)
But let me tell you something. Human beings are so headstrong that we will live there rather than let God inside to change who we are. We will. And we can't do that. We can't do that. You know, it had become an orduous chore, but joy is what we see in Leviticus when it talks about tithing. Joy is not what we see when the Pharisees are talking about tithing here. But joy is what we see. And what is joy? It is a fruit of the Spirit. It's something that starts on the inside. When the Holy Spirit is inside, those fruits can come out. And they can grow. We can stifle them by trying to make them grow. Have you ever tried to make something grow before? It's hard. It's hard to poke and prod at a plant to make it produce. [00:35:48] (67 seconds)
This salvation is not a superficial salvation. It is a real thing. It's a tangible thing. It starts on the inside and it works out from there into every single facet of the human life. Every part. Nothing is left untouched by the Holy Ghost. Nothing. It doesn't start as a physical thing. It's a spiritual thing. And in fact, it starts at one place. It starts in belief. That's where it starts. It doesn't start with what you can see. It starts with faith. It starts with belief. And from there, it grows and it brings forth fruit. It brings forth fruit. [00:39:30] (53 seconds)
From all of these things and the fruits of the spirits with these things that the outside of a human being is then changed. You will see a difference in the life of somebody who is embracing the joy of the Holy Ghost on the inside versus someone who is not. Someone who is embracing peace and growing these things in their life versus somebody who is trying to make it happen on their own. And self -control on the inside versus someone who thinks they have to force self -control. You can see. You can feel it. And you can feel it in your own life. Which is why I come back to my opening verse. Give that which is within as your charitable gift. And when you give that which is within you give everything. [00:41:57] (61 seconds)
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The mercy, the justice thing, that's hard. Having God change the inner man, that's difficult. But you know what? Tithing's not so hard. I'll do that. I remember having a conversation with Brother Neil and I was talking with him about tithing and giving and there was a... I can't quite remember all the just of the matter that we were kind of talking about or what was the important piece to me. But the main thing I remember him saying is, ... ... ... God doesn't need your money. And I was like, okay, I grew up in a pastor's home, a home mission's home. I know the expenses that it takes to run a church where people can come together and gather and worship. It takes funds and money. That funds and money comes from giving. I've been giving since I was able to look at cash and count it. I think he kind of does need my money. And he said, no, he doesn't need your money. He's got cattle on a thousand hills. There's something more to what's happening there than you giving God money. It's in here. But if you take it from out of there and put it just to the balance sheet, that's superficial. [00:20:08] (82 seconds)
And now you're missing the mark. And now like these Pharisees, you're just counting out all the amount of time that you have, gathering it all up, snipping off the little bits and pieces, gathering everything just so, and making sure it goes. But you're leaving the inside alone. You're washing the cup, but not the inside. So don't trust the surface. I think if anything, that group of young people learnt is to trust things that look okay. Not to trust things that look okay. But to test them. That balcony looked fine. It looked great. But underneath, there was something wrong. And that's an extreme example. But don't trust the way things look. I think we all know this and we agree on this, that we can't trust just the things we see. [00:21:29] (61 seconds)
There's a reason why the Scripture says walk by faith and not by sight. It doesn't say by smell or by hearing or by intuition or feeling. It says don't walk by sight. Because that's what we put our trust in. That's what we put our trust in. And the bad thing about that is what you see is so easily mimicked. and changed. You know, we have sayings like... Okay, Walk by Faith, Not by Sight is a scriptural one, but don't judge a book by its cover. All that glitters isn't gold. Looks can be deceiving. And this was one that I found that I like. It says, clothes don't make a man. I didn't know that was a saying, but I read it. I thought, yeah, fair enough. You can wear it, but you're not gonna really come out to anything. [00:22:21] (51 seconds)
the point Jesus is trying to make here is that you cannot act your way into the kingdom of God. You cannot impersonate yourself that way. So what do we do? We invite Jesus in to the inside. Not to the outside. Not just for lunch. We invite him in. Jesus, having him in your life is life -changing. And not just a bit of cold water poured over dirty hands. But like cold water to a thirsty soul and a cleanliness that starts on the inside. The change that Jesus brings is true. It's lasting. It's evidence of salvation and not ceremony. [00:27:33] (57 seconds)
Speaking in tongues is not a ceremonial rite that you perform to feel better about yourself. It is evidence of what God is doing on the inside. And it is evidence of salvation. But in and itself isn't salvation. It's evidence of what God has done on the inside. On the inside. People will ask sometimes, okay, it's receiving the Holy Ghost necessary for salvation. Well, I tell you that it is salvation. That's how you're saved. That's how you're saved. You have to have Christ in your heart reconciling you and changing you and cleaning you on the inside. And then that inside comes out to the outside. He works from there. And the Pharisee, he invited Jesus into his home, but he didn't invite Jesus into his life. He didn't invite Jesus into his thinking. And he didn't adjust what he thought. [00:28:38] (68 seconds)
But let me tell you something. Human beings are so headstrong that we will live there rather than let God inside to change who we are. We will. And we can't do that. We can't do that. You know, it had become an orduous chore, but joy is what we see in Leviticus when it talks about tithing. Joy is not what we see when the Pharisees are talking about tithing here. But joy is what we see. And what is joy? It is a fruit of the Spirit. It's something that starts on the inside. When the Holy Spirit is inside, those fruits can come out. And they can grow. We can stifle them by trying to make them grow. Have you ever tried to make something grow before? It's hard. It's hard to poke and prod at a plant to make it produce. [00:35:48] (67 seconds)
This salvation is not a superficial salvation. It is a real thing. It's a tangible thing. It starts on the inside and it works out from there into every single facet of the human life. Every part. Nothing is left untouched by the Holy Ghost. Nothing. It doesn't start as a physical thing. It's a spiritual thing. And in fact, it starts at one place. It starts in belief. That's where it starts. It doesn't start with what you can see. It starts with faith. It starts with belief. And from there, it grows and it brings forth fruit. It brings forth fruit. [00:39:30] (53 seconds)
From all of these things and the fruits of the spirits with these things that the outside of a human being is then changed. You will see a difference in the life of somebody who is embracing the joy of the Holy Ghost on the inside versus someone who is not. Someone who is embracing peace and growing these things in their life versus somebody who is trying to make it happen on their own. And self -control on the inside versus someone who thinks they have to force self -control. You can see. You can feel it. And you can feel it in your own life. Which is why I come back to my opening verse. Give that which is within as your charitable gift. And when you give that which is within you give everything. [00:41:57] (61 seconds)
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