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TRANSCRIPT
REVELATIONAL FAITH FOR HEARING
THE PROMISED WORD FOR YOU
Thought for the book taken from the
Message delivered on March 29, 2015
Dawsonville, Georgia U.S.A.
©2015 by Ben Howard
All rights reserved. This book cannot be sold,
nor in any way be used for the soliciting of funds.
All scripture quotations are taken from
the King James Version Bible
Published by the Sound Of Liberty
7286 Hwy 53W, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534 U.S.A.
www.SoundofLiberty.org
REVELATIONAL FAITH FOR HEARING
THE PROMISED WORD FOR YOU
We are going to read several places in the Word of God today.
And I’m going to start reading in Chapter 10 of the Book of
Romans, just one verse to begin with. I want to take a little
thought and entitle it, Revelational Faith for Hearing the Promised
Word for You. Now when speaking of the revelational faith, the
Word for this faith has got to be in you first. See, the Word is the
seed; and it’s got to be in you first before it can be quickened.
The ministry brings it to your mind, and then it is quickened to
you by the Holy Ghost. Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and
Sadducees in the Book of John 8:43; He asked them, “Why do ye
not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.”
In other words, they could hear the natural Word, but they
weren’t getting the spiritual meaning of it. In John 6:53, it says,
“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye
eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in
you.” But they thought He was talking about His physical body.
He said, “He that eateth me hath everlasting life.” He is the
Word; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) So from that
standpoint, it takes a spiritual ear to hear the Word of God. And
anything that God is doing, or has promised to do, has a season
that it will happen in. And until that season arrives there is no
‘revelational faith’ to put life in that part of the Word, because it
would be out of season.
In the Book of Luke 8:11 it tells us, “Now the parable is this: The
seed is the Word of God.” And that seed has got to be in you
already. We find in John 8:37, Jesus saying, “I know that ye are
Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place
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in you.” Then in Matthew, Chapter 13, Jesus went out of the
house and sat by the seaside, and a great multitude were
gathered unto Him, so that he went into a ship and sat, and the
whole multitude stood on the shore. And He spoke many things
unto them in parables. And upon hearing this, His disciples
came and asked Him, “Why do you speak in parables?” He
answered and said unto them, “Because it is given unto you to
know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is
not given.” So I say to you, “If there is a desire in you, and a
want to, then that want to is from the Lord; He put that within
you. You were born with it. There are people born with the seed
of God in them and that is predestination. The Word of God
teaches us that “Whom He did foreknow, them He also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son.”
So anytime God has a promise, as the time cycle rolls around
for that promise to be fulfilled, then the inspiration for it comes
and it will strike God’s true ministers and they will begin to
bring that Word to the people. That is why we separate from
denominations, because they are still preaching what they were
taught five hundred years ago when coming out of the Dark
Ages; and they haven’t changed. But the Word of God is a
constant moving force. The Bible says, “If we walk in the light,”
and in walking you are moving—“If we walk in the light as He
is in the light we have fellowship one with the other and the
blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” So that is what
we are looking at today. But before we read the Word, let’s just
bow our heads in a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, we come to you, Lord, with praise in our hearts,
thanking you for giving us this day and for the beautiful weather, the
nice sunshine; it just makes us feel good physically, Lord. We
appreciate it and we thank you for it. And Lord, we thank you for the
healing that you have granted to your people as we have seen and have
received testimonies. And we thank you for blessing the many, many
people with the good Word of God. We also thank you for the letters
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we received, Lord, on the books, cd’s, and the website. We know, Lord,
that you are your own interpreter when you bring it to pass. So we
just pray for the anointing of God, that we’ll be right under the spout
of the anointing and that you will anoint our lips to say words that will
be of an edifying nature and help to your people. We ask this in Jesus
Christ’s wonderful name. Amen.
First, I want to get this one verse here in Romans 10:17. It is a
simple verse. It says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God.” Now in order to have faith in the Word, it
has to be timely Word. And we have to recognize the promise
that God made for the day that we are in; and there’s where God
will quicken a faith. Most everybody says, “I believe the Bible; I
believe in Jesus,” and things of that nature; and they do, but in a
very natural way. But when it comes down to the specifics of
what God is doing, then that’s where we have to move by
revelation of the Word of God. And that’s what we want. So
“faith cometh by hearing” means it will be preached to you; it
will be taught to you; it will be timely; and it will be what you
need for the time you are living in. We have now arrived at the
sounding of the last trumpet that will raise the dead and
translate the living, and this is something that we have
automatically moved into without struggling. So faith cometh
by hearing; just think about those words for a moment. Faith is
something that is an unstoppable force. It cannot be stopped,
and what God said would be is here.
When we look back in time, we can see the great deliverance
revivals that have taken place. I have been in A.E. Allen’s
meetings where there were perhaps ten thousand people. I saw
all the shouting and many healings taking place. Also, I’ve been
in Oral Roberts’ meetings. And nearly every time those men
preached, they preached on faith, saying, “You’ve got to believe
God. God will heal you. He is healing His people. There’s a
healing in the land.” And healing is still taking place; it is the
way of God. But now we are looking more and more at the
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promises of God for the total redemption of our body, as now
the body is being glorified, also.
Sometimes it’s a soul that needs healing as well as the body.
In the deliverance revivals the crippled walked, the blind saw.
There was one man that came to Gainesville, Georgia, to a
meeting back in those days when the healing revivals were
going on, and he had a glass eye. Prior to this he couldn’t see
out of the eye and he came up to be prayed for. The preacher
asked him, “What would you have the Lord do for you?” He
said, “I can’t see out of this eye. I need God to heal me.” And
the preacher said, “All right. God gives you back your sight, in
the name of Jesus Christ.” And the man’s sight came back, but
he still had his glass eye. He could take his glass eye out and
cover up the other eye and see just as well. They would get him
to read different things with the other eye covered up, and he
could read just as well with the glass eye in or out. And that was
a great miracle. Those things were taking place because the
healing revival was on and no one could stop it! And when a
preacher put up a tent or would have a healing meeting, people
would come out; because that was the message, “God is a healer.
By His stripes you were healed.” And each service it was
preached along those lines, because that was what was taking
place. It produced faith. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God.” So they began to receive it.
Well, faith is still here, healing is still here; but at that time that
was the main thing God was putting emphasis on. So as we
moved on in the Word of God, there were other things in God’s
Word that He wanted to teach us; and He began to lead us
deeper and deeper in revelation. And now we have gotten to
the place in God’s Word where we get to the final phase of
redemption. I preached this many times, and you’ve heard me
say it—“We are not redeemed unless and until our body is
redeemed.” Now as we read in Romans, Chapter 8, we hear
Paul saying, “We wait for the adoption to wit the redemption of
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the body.” See, the body has to be redeemed also, and not just
the soul. That’s why Jesus Christ died in His physical body—so
that He could redeem our bodies. And He came that we might
have life and have it more abundantly. And now our gospel has
come into its cycle and its season. So we’ve got to look in the
Word of God to see if we are in that season to produce our
glorified bodies; because we have to have something to base our
faith on and it has got to be solid. We can’t have faith just
because we want something to take place. I could say, “Lord, I
would like to have five new houses. One in this state and one in
that state. And I want a big condo on the beach. And I’d like,
Lord, for you to give me a yacht. And also, Lord, give me a plane
so I can move around good.” See, I’ve got no faith for that and
no basis to claim it. And God will not quicken such a faith as
that. Only if we ask according to His will, will He do it. But He
gives the whole body a certain faith for a certain thing, and in
this case it is faith to be translated and raptured. We have come
into this faith in this last day (which God has promised to we
which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord) that says
that we will not die but we shall be changed in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye. Now that is the hour that we have come
into—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye we shall be
changed! But before any of that takes place, the dead will be
raised and together we will be caught up with them to meet the
Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. So these
are the things that we are looking at in the Word and are
believing God for. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, and 1 Corinthians
15:51-57)
Now I want to go to the Book of Hebrews. There are many
scriptures that I want to read in this book. There is a chapter that
we usually call the faith chapter. It talks here more about faith
than any chapter in the Bible. Now faith is something that we
have in a measure, but the Word tells us to grow in grace and in
the knowledge of God. And in order to grow we have to fertilize
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our faith by the Word of God for our day. Because we (as a seed
of God) had the Word placed within us at the time God
predestinated us and created our spirit to glorify Him.
God has a wonderful plan for His people. He started
introducing this marvelous plan by sending Jesus into the
temple to offer this plan of God to the Pharisees and religious
leaders, and some of them even came out and listened to Him.
And there were a few of them that even became believers in
Him; for they saw Him raise the dead, heal the sick, and even
walk on water. But most of the religious began to say certain
things like, “Who is this? Abraham is our father.” They would
say, “We follow Moses, the one that God sent unto us. We fellow
God. Who are you?” And Jesus said unto them, “If you knew
who God was, you would know who I am.” And as He began
to bring these things out, there were some there that believed,
but the religious leaders went about to kill Him. And He said,
“You do this because my Word has no place in you.”
Now you could be in a bad shape in this world, but the worst
shape that anyone could possibly be in is to be a person where
the Word has no place in them. In other words, they can hear
the Word and it really doesn’t do anything for them, while other
people hear the Word of God and it takes root. Jesus gave a
parable about sowing seed; “some seed falls on stony places and
it springs up and quickly withers away when the sun comes up.”
This He said as He gave many different parables. “Some are
sown among the thorns.” You’ve got to get out from among the
thorns. The thorns will choke the Word to the point that it will
cause our faith not to grow. And Jesus said, “These are they that
when tribulation and trials come because of the Word, they fall
away.” God wants somebody that will look at the promise and
believe it. But first it has to be in you. And the preaching of the
Word of God will quicken that seed and bring it forth into
perfect faith, this hybrid stuff won’t do that. The reason being is
because the life was already in the seed, and it will come forth in
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its season. Putting it in the ground didn’t put life in it. The life
was already there; it just took the soil and moisture and warmth
to cause it to come up out of the earth. And nothing can stop it
from coming up. There is something calling those seeds in the
soil. And that’s the way it is with the Word of God. If there is
something in us, and it’s planted in good soil, it will come forth.
Now learn the parable of a little tree: One day, a man decided
he wanted to plant an orange tree. He went out and bought a
little tree and brought it home and planted it. But he planted it
in the shade where it couldn’t get sufficient sunlight. And every
now and then when he would walk by, he would give it some
water. He went about his daily life, not paying much attention
to the little tree. But once in a while, when he walked by, he
would think to himself, “I didn’t get a very good tree; it’s not
growing a bit and it looks like it is about to die. It will never
have any oranges on it!” One day, a wise man came by and
started a conversation with the man. The wise man began
asking him about his little tree. The man told him, “I brought it
home and planted it, but it’s not growing a bit; in fact it looks
about ready to die. I’ve got no use for it. It’s not going to give
me any oranges.” The wise man said, “Well, if you don’t want
it, then sell it to me. I will take the little tree home and see what
I can do with it.” So, the wise man took the little tree home and
planted it in a place where its roots could grow deep, and also a
place where there was plenty of sunlight. Oh, how he loved the
little tree. He went faithfully every day to see to her needs. He
turned the soil and kept the weeds pulled from around her. He
gave her just enough water each day to keep her roots moist.
And as he did all of this, he lovingly talked to the little tree. Time
went by, and the little tree began to grow. She grew and grew.
First white blossoms appeared; then oranges sprang forth. The
wise man went out and rejoiced over his little tree that had
grown so much and was finally producing. Then one afternoon,
the man that owned the little tree first saw the wise man, and he
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said, “You’re the man I sold the little tree to, aren’t you? Is that
little tree still alive?” The wise man shook his head, “Yes, she is
alive and well. Do you want to come and see her?” So the wise
man took him to see his little tree. The man was amazed at how
tall and majestic the little tree had grown, and she was filled with
the most luscious fruit he had ever seen. The man asked, “How
did you get it to grow like this?” The wise man answered, “I
brought the little tree home and planted her in a place where she
could get all the sunlight she needed and where her roots could
sink deep, and I gave her plenty of room to grow. I made sure
she was in a place where there was plenty of light, and gave her
just enough water each day to keep her moist.” The man, with
a puzzled expression on his face asked, “Are you sure that’s all
you did?” The wise man replied with shining eyes, “Yes, but
what made the difference was love and faith.”
That’s why it is important to hear the Word of God; faith
cometh by hearing. And Paul said, “Forsaking not the
assembling of yourselves together.” That’s what we do, we come
to hear the Word of God and let it grow. We just don’t hear it
and let it wash away. We talk about it. We thank God for it. We
testify about it. One of the things that the apostles did, starting
in the Book of Acts, they testified about Jesus Christ being raised
from the dead and that He had come back as the Holy Ghost;
they gave witness of the resurrection. Everywhere they went
they were telling, “He is risen! He is risen! He is risen!” And
some said, “He is risen! We saw Him! We ate with Him! We
were sitting there in the room, and suddenly He appeared (the
doors being shut) and He sat with us and He ate! He said,
‘Children, do you have any meat?’ And we sat out fish and
honey and He ate it and talked to us about the Kingdom of God;
then suddenly He was gone!” They testified about it. They
talked about it. That was the message in that hour—“He is risen!
He is risen!” Now each time that God has sent a truth, there was
a people that testified about it, talked about it; it was a large part
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of their conversation because that was what was within them.
Hallelujah!
Many times, Jesus talked about a seed, and we know that Jesus
Christ was the seed of God. And that means He sprang forth
from God. That seed was planted in the soil of the womb of a
virgin named Mary and it grew and came forth. John, Chapter
One, says that He was the Word made manifest; He’s the Word
made flesh. See, the Word comes forth and nothing can stop it.
We can’t speed it up. We can’t slow it down. Because the Word
of God speaks and the Word is always right, so faith cometh by
hearing and hearing by the revealed Word. Now we have
certain promises for this end time that are not promises for
another age. It’s our promises. We lay claim on them and we
believe God for them and we proclaim them!
Now I want to read here in this faith chapter. I want you to
notice how many times the Word talks about faith in Hebrews,
Chapter 11. I’m getting to some promises that God has for us in
our day. I will begin reading in Verse One. There are two things
in Verse One that is very important in order for us to have real
faith. It says, “Now faith is the substance.” I want you to notice
that word substance. You can’t see it. You can’t feel it. You can’t
taste it. It’s not reachable by any of the senses of the body; but it
is a substance. It’s just like radar. It’s not anything you can see,
but it is just as real; it’s a substance. It’s just like the telephone.
They’ve got satellites many miles above us up there. And this
Word, as we go on the website, it flashes anywhere in the world
through the air. It’s a substance, see. There’s no wires;
especially going up to the satellites. It hits the satellites and
comes back down to any place in the world. We see the children
(not only the children but also the adults today), every one of
them have their little phones. I guess if you took their phones
away from them they couldn’t breathe. They’ve got it in their
hands at all times. Well, what they are sending is going
somewhere. It’s a substance that causes that to go to whoever
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they’re sending a message to. See, faith is just as real. It’s not
something that we see with a natural eye, but it is something that
we see with our spiritual eye. We see it right here in the Word.
So faith is a substance. Now we’ve got a substance. When we’re
talking about faith we’re not talking about something that
doesn’t exist. It is a substance. Now that is one of the things I
want us to see about faith. Another thing is, “Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Amen,
we have the evidence. Glory to God!
Today there is a people that believe God. It’s evidence. We’ve
got faith. We believe it. We talk about it. And don’t try to
change us. We’ve got that substance in our hearts and the
evidence is coming out! I think about Jesus; He could, just by
faith, set aside the law of gravity. That’s the way He did when
He walked on the water. And that same faith came into Philip
down on the desert when he went and preached to the eunuch
there; then suddenly he was caught up in the Spirit and he was
seen over in another town preaching. Instead of taking an
airplane ride, he took a plain air ride! That’s a substance of faith.
This thing is just as real as it can be. And some people say, “I’m
not going to believe something unless I see or feel it.” Well, then
they can’t even be saved, because we accept God by faith. By
faith we believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins; and there
cannot be one doubt in our minds about it. And we believe that
the stripes were put on His body for our healing, and His
chastisement for our peace. That’s the reason we’ve got peace
like a river and joy like a fountain; we’ve got faith in what
happened at Calvary. And it is a substance—and there is
evidence of it. Just stay around a few days and you will see!
Now everything has come to pass just like God said it would up
to this time, and the rest will be right in line and nothing can
stop it.
Now watch the next verse here. Verse 2, “For by it the elders
obtained a good report.” Now watch the word faith again. Verse
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3, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the
word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things
which do appear.” In other words, the worlds were created just
by Word spoken by faith. See, faith is the substance that created
this world. We can see on television scientists that want to go to
Mars and try to figure out how this thing happened, and why
there is a planet out here, and why the moon comes around and
goes into different quarters. They try to figure out how it all
takes place. See, all of that is nonsense. The earth is part of
God’s spoken Word, and it cannot be destroyed (He will purify
it, but not destroy it); it is eternal. God’s creation is made by the
Word. The worlds were framed by the Word of God. It is part
of the Word and it is eternal. That’s why when we read
Revelation, Chapter 22, we find that we go into the eternal age
that will never end, and we will still be on the earth. It can’t be
destroyed. It is indestructible. It is the Word of God. Just like
water; it is indestructible. If you freeze it, it gets solid. If you
boil it, it goes up in steam and comes right back down. It just
keeps coming back. It is eternal. And Jesus said, “Out of your
belly shall flow rivers of living water.” That’s this living water
that is flowing forth today. It is real. It’s not an imaginary thing.
It’s a substance. Now faith is a substance and it will translate
these bodies. And that is what God is quickening the Word to
as we come more and more up to this time, and you can’t help
but believe God! There are groups today that say, “We need to
do this (or that) to get rapturing faith.” No, all we need to do is
hear the Word of God and realize the time and season that we
are living in; and we know it is time for it and we can’t help but
believe it. All right. Now the worlds were framed by what? The
Word of God; so they’re part of the Word. And it will be here
throughout eternity; for the Word of God is eternal.
In the days of Noah, when God spoke to Noah to build an ark
He told him, “It’s going to rain.” Now think about that. The
first couple of thousand years here on this earth it hadn’t rained
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and the seas didn’t exist. And the way God watered the earth—
a mist would go up. That’s what it talks about in Genesis; a mist
would go up from the earth and water it. No rain. But God told
Noah, “You build an ark because it is going to rain. I’m going
to destroy the whole world, all the wickedness on the face of the
earth. Build an ark for the saving of your household.” Well,
Noah began to preach the Word to his generation (and in his day
a generation was about one hundred and twenty years). Do you
know how many converts he got? Not a one. He didn’t get a
single one. It was only Noah and his family that built the ark as
he preached the gospel. And people would no doubt say,
“There’s no rain up there. Where is the water coming from? If
this world is going to be flooded out, where is it coming from?”
Well, God knew where it was. It was somewhere up in space;
because the fountain of the deep was open (and that is not deep
earth, it is deep space). The water began to fall down to this
earth by the tons, and for forty days and forty nights it rained.
And finally that ark began to rise up and float. And they were
on that ark for over a year before the water began to recede.
That’s where we get the oceans and so on that we have now. But
when we get over into eternity, we read in Revelation, Chapter
21, where John saw a new heaven and a new earth. Verse One
says, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven
and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”
Leading up to that thousand year period of time, which is the
millennium, all the water will go back to where it was to begin
with. There will be a perfect climate. Everything will be perfect
all over the earth. And there will be no more places where it is
so cold that we can’t stand it or where it is so hot that we can’t
stand it. Those conditions won’t exist when the earth goes back
to its original. The earth is fallen like mankind, but God is a
redeeming God; He’s going to redeem it all back. It’s going to
be a paradise right here on earth.
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Let’s go to Verse 4, “By faith (or revelation) Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that
he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead
yet speaketh.” What’s being said here is what Abel did by faith
when the fall took place in the garden. He knew that the
bloodline had gotten defiled and so he offered the blood
sacrifice. Looking way into the future by revelation, by faith,
that the Lamb of God would be slain on the cross, Abel killed a
little lamb. And God testified that he was righteous. But I want
to move on. Watch every verse here says, “By faith.”
Watch what it says in Verse 5, this is talking about Enoch. Now
here we’re getting into our day. “By faith Enoch was translated
that he should not see death;” And I want to ask you a question.
Do you believe that? He was translated; he didn’t see death.
Neither did Elijah; he was caught up. Some people say,
“Everybody has got to die.” Well, not necessarily. The reason
they say, “Everybody has got to die,” is because of that one law
that says, “It is appointed unto man once to die but after this the
judgment,” not realizing that there is another law that overrides
that law of sin and death. There is a spiritual law that says, “We
which are alive and remain shall be changed in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye and we shall be caught up to meet the Lord
in the air.” So that law is a greater law. The law of life has made
us free from the law of sin and death (Hebrews, Chapter 2). It
says that Jesus tasted death for every man; both spirit and body
in total redemption.
The Bible tells us that there are two kinds of death. There’s the
death of the soul and the death of the body. Now everybody can
see when the body dies. But the Word of God speaks of the
second death; that’s the death of the soul when it will go out of
existence and be as though it never was (after it goes through the
things that God has ordained). Hell is for the destruction of
Satan and his angels, and also for people who have chosen to go
there. Death and hell will give up the dead and they will be cast
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into the lake of fire; and all will be destroyed there. Even in this
enlightened age some still say, “I believe hell is eternal.” The
only way that one could be in hell for eternity is to have God’s
own life, because that is the only source of eternal life that there
is. And if you live for eternity, whether in hell or heaven, you
would have to have God’s life; but you can’t have God’s life and
go to hell. That is the second death according to the Word of
God. It says, “They that believe God will not be hurt by the
second death.” In other words, this ole natural body can die, but
the soul cannot die if you’ve got eternal life. But if you are dead,
“She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.”
Now let’s get on Enoch again here. It says, “By faith Enoch was
translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God
had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony,
that he pleased God.” And what does the Bible say? It says,
“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” And how do we
get faith? Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of
God. This faith is water that is poured on that seed, and the
warm soil will make it come up, and we can’t help but believe
it!
Barbara Jean and I were going to the park to walk the other
week, and all the leaves had fallen off all the bushes and trees
(except those evergreens) and the grass there was just brown.
When winter comes, when the season comes around, nothing
can stop it or change it. There was not a leaf on the trees in the
park. But just the other day when we went back to walk, we saw
little leaves coming back on the trees. Now somebody try to stop
that. There is no way to stop it. It is a law of God that He set in
here and it will do it every year. Likewise, as this spiritual
season comes around there is going to be a people that are
translated; and I am here to tell you that we are in that season.
Yes, we’re in that season. We are the we which are alive and
remain. I had a man tell me the other day, “We’re going through
the tribulation; there is no way to stop it.” Well, I’m not going
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to argue with him; he probably is. He said, “The church will go
through the tribulation.” Well, that may be so, but not the wife
of the Lamb. He said, “That is when Jesus will come back.” I
said, “Yes, that’s when Jesus comes back; but not when Christ
comes back.” Christ is that Spirit that came back and is shown
in Revelation, Chapter 10, as He has come in His fullness as the
Mighty Angel, one foot on sea and one on earth, both legs of this
spiritual coming. And as He has come, we which are alive and
remain have received this Word, and this Word will change us.
Because by one Spirit we were baptized into the body of Christ,
and Jesus Christ died once and death has no more dominion
over Him, and we are members of the body of Christ and death
has no more dominion over us, His wife.
Notice the translation of Enoch—he was a type of the rapture.
Now there are two things that God is showing in this period
before the flood. First, the rapture, and then the tribulation,
because Noah going through the flood is a type of the
tribulation. But before the tribulation began, before the flood
came, there was a man named Enoch. That’s the one we just
read about. By faith he believed God. God dropped a revelation
in his heart, “I’m not going to die; I’m going to be changed. I’m
going to be translated.” And he was translated that he did not
see death. Now do you believe that? That is the point; do you
believe it? Do you believe there was a man just like you and I,
who believed God and was translated? Well, I’m telling you,
there is a people on earth today, and there are no special powers
about them. They may not be educated people as far as
education in the natural realm; for the common people heard
Him gladly. Although it is okay to be educated; what matters is
what’s is in your heart—revelational faith for the move of God
that is now taking place in our day.
Verse 6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him:” See,
Enoch pleased God. How did he please God? By faith. “But
without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God
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must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him.” Do you believe that He will reward you? He will
reward you according to the faith He has given you. In Bible
days there were some that came to Jesus, and Jesus gave certain
things to them. But there was one that came to Jesus and said,
“I believe, Lord, but help my unbelief.” Not ‘help my unbelief
to grow,’ but ‘help me get rid of this unbelief.’ If you believe
God, walk with God—to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
The carnal mind will say it is not possible. Say, “Lord, I believe;
but I have a little shadow of unbelief. Help me get rid of that
unbelief.” Jesus helped the man and he got what he wanted. But
the point is, He said, “Faith.” He said, “Faith cometh by
hearing.” And there in the Book of 2 Thessalonians 1:3, it says,
“Your faith growth exceedingly.”
It’s just like this: Barbara Jean had some flowers that she
planted in hanging pots on our porch. She had some soil that
already had some fertilizer in it, but she bought a water hose
attachment where you could put a little packet of fertilizer in it
called Miracle Grow, and when you sprayed the water, the
fertilizer would mix with it. She would spray that water on the
flowers and say, “I tell you, this Miracle Grow is good stuff.
Watch those flowers grow!” Everybody that came by our house
were just amazed at them. They said, “I’ve never seen flowers
as big and beautiful as these. How did you get them like this?”
Well, she told them, “I’ve faithfully been spraying a fertilizer
called Miracle Grow on them and it really works. I’ve never
grown flowers like this before!” She was thrilled over her
flowers, and couldn’t believe how good they looked. But when
she took her water hose attachment off to see if she needed to
replace her packet of Miracle grow, she came to find out that she
didn’t have the little label pulled off the packet where the
Miracle Grow could get into the water! She was just putting
plain water on them! So we could say that these flowers were
growing on faith; for when she thought she had added the
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Miracle Grow, they really grew fast. We need to put some
Miracle Grow on our faith. And Miracle Grow is hearing the
Word of God. We are required in this hour to walk in the light
of the Word; and there is a people who are doing that. Yes, we
believe God that we are going to walk out of here and be
changed in a moment and in the twinkling of an eye.
Now watch, again, Verse 6, “But without faith it is impossible to
please him:” Some people have come to me or written to me
saying, “Brother Howard, I want to please God. How do I please
God? I don’t know if I am pleasing God or not.” Well, He sent
a message. He sent a Word. And without faith it is impossible
to please God. That faith pleases God, see. When Enoch
believed God, He was translated. “But without faith it is
impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
We must believe. We’ve got to put legs on our faith. (And if you
walk in the light you might need faith on your legs to walk in the
light of the gospel!) But this is not something where we just
come to church to hear a little sermon, and say, “Well, I’m going
to church today.” No, it’s something we get in. It is something
we talk about. It is something we tell our neighbors about (if
they’ll hear us). It is something that we just praise God for—
“With our voice we praise Him!” At least He will listen to us;
and He won’t get mad at us for praising Him.
Verse 7, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as
yet, (There are things not yet seen, but we believe God. We have
been baptized into the body of Christ, and it is just like God said
it would be.) moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his
house;” Now faith is a substance of things hoped for, the
evidence. That was evidence. Noah didn’t say, “I tell you folks,
there is coming a flood and you better get ready.” No, he just
began to cut the timber and he began to build the ark. That is
the kind of faith that God is looking for in us. That is growing
faith. If we believe it and testify about it, then we walk with it,
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and that becomes our very own life; for we are dead, and our
lives are hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3) We are dead
to everything around us, but we are alive unto God. In Galatians
2:20-21, it says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;
(watch this) yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which
I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace
of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead
in vain.” But to the wife of the Lamb, faith has come to free us
from the law; to believe God. And that is what we are doing, we
are letting Christ live through us. Is He living in you today?
When somebody looks at you, do they see Christ? Paul said,
“I’m in Christ’s stead.” Now we can say we’re in Jesus’ stead as
the Christ in the earth, the wife of the Lamb.
Again Verse 7 says, “By faith Noah being warned of God of things
not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his
house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the
righteousness which is by faith.” The word faith is used twenty-
four times in this one chapter. “By faith,” showing that
everything has to be by faith. And that faith has to be within us.
And if we do have the faith, it will not be just something we talk
about, but it will be something that will express itself in us. And
that shows forth the substance. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. It’s the evidence. What evidence of faith do we have?
What God says, are we doing it?
Here’s another one that we talk about a lot, and I love it. Verse
8 says, “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place
which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed: and he went
out, not knowing whither he went.” In other words, God said,
“Go,” and he didn’t say, “Lord, how do I do it?” It’s just like
Peter on the housetop there in Acts, Chapter 10, when the Spirit
told him to go with three men to Caesarea to the house of a
Gentile man named Cornelius, doubting nothing. Believe God
for whatever it is; go with God. That’s the way Abraham went
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out. Verse 9, “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a
strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs
with him of the same promise:” Now watch, he knew he was
traveling. We’re walking in the light; that’s the reason we don’t
join a denomination; we don’t build a house. We just keep on
moving.
See, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob they lived in their tents. They
were herders in the natural. They moved just like the Indians of
this country would do; they moved with the food. They kept
right on moving. So he sojourned. What was he doing? Verse
10, says, “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God.” He looked for it. Well, we found it!
Abraham, let me tell you something; the thing you were looking
for, we’ve got it! We are part of it. We are the city of the living
God. The city on a hill cannot be hid. We’re the lights of the
world. And the light of this last trump of God message has come
upon this religious world that is in darkness and they
comprehended it not. But to those that received it, to them He
gave rapturing faith.
I want to get Verse 11. It says, “Through faith also Sara herself
received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when
she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.”
Paul wrote, “It ceased to be with Sarah as with women.” In other
words, she was in menopause. She’s old and there’s no way.
But God said, “Abraham, you and Sarah are going to have a
child.” But many years passed and Abraham was as good as
dead the Word said. And Sarah was past age. But the Word
said it! And do you know what those folks did? Everybody
thought they were crazy, but they believed God anyway! Some
of the women might have said, “Sarah, are you this old and
haven’t gone into menopause yet?” And she would say, “I’m in
menopause.” Then they would say, “Well, you’re saying you’re
going to have a child. Look at Abraham. You’ve both got
rheumatism so bad you have to help each other get into the bed,
2015 Revelational Faith For Hearing The Promised Word For You 20
and you’re saying, ‘We’re going to have a child.” She would say,
“Oh, yes; we are going to have a child.” Well, do you know what
happened? One day a man came out of the desert. Actually
there were three of them. Two of them went to Sodom, that’s
when God judged that situation. But one stayed with Abraham
and Sarah, and that man said, “Now Sarah is going to have a
child.” Well, Sarah and Abraham were a hundred years old and
past childbearing age. And Sarah laughed in the tent behind
him. And the man said, “Why did Sarah laugh in her heart?”
And she said, “Oh, I didn’t.” He said, “But you did.” He said,
“But it doesn’t matter anyway. About this time next year the
season is going to come around and you’re going to come out of
menopause.” They became young again. They had that child.
And to show you that they became young again, Abraham was
as good as dead before Isaac was born, but when Isaac got
married forty years later (Sarah passed away just before then)
Abraham took a wife and had six children by her. Abraham was
good as dead before Isaac was born, and forty years later he
married another woman and had children by her; all because of
one thing—Faith! He believed what God said. Now what God
is promising us is not a less miracle to believe—the promise of a
glorified body.
In John, Chapter 11, we read about where Lazarus had died;
he was dead four days and stinking. They sent for Jesus. And
they were crying and carrying on. Mary and Martha (Lazarus’
sisters) both said to Jesus, “Lord, if you would have been here,
our brother wouldn’t have died.” And Jesus said, “He will
resurrect.” They said, “Oh, we know he will resurrect at the time
of the resurrection.” Do you know what Jesus said? He said, “I
am the resurrection.” Then He asked, “Where did you lay him?”
And they took Jesus to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay
upon it. Jesus told them, “Take ye away the stone.” But Martha
said unto Him, “Lord, by this time he stinketh; for he has been
dead four days.” Jesus said unto her, “Did I not tell you that if
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thou would believe, thou should see the glory of God?” Then
they took away the stone from the place where the dead was
laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, “Father, I thank thee
that thou hast heard me. And I know that thou hearest me always: but
because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that
thou hast sent me.” And when He had thus spoken, He cried with
a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” He didn’t doubt one bit.
Then suddenly here came a man out of that cave who had been
dead four days and stinking. Jesus said, “Unwrap him and let
him go.” That is what faith will do. Faith is going to change
these bodies. And faith is going to raise from the dead those that
died in the Lord. They’re going to hear us, and are hearing us;
because the Bible says, “Those that are in the grave will hear the
voice of the Son of God and come forth.” This is the voice of the
Son of God; because it is the Word! We’re baptized into His
body. They’re going to come forth and we’re going to be
changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (just like Enoch
was) and caught up to meet the Lord in the air.
Again, Verse 11, “Through faith also, Sara herself received strength
to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age,
because she judged him faithful who had promised.” In other words,
if God made the promise, what can you do? Who is going to
argue with it? Here’s a woman past age and here was a man as
good as dead, and they judged God’s Word faithful.
Circumstances didn’t mean a thing. And anytime we look at
circumstances, we’re placing that above our faith in God.
Circumstances don’t mean a thing; it’s what God’s Word says.
And we are part of the Word. In Ephesians, Chapter One, it says
that we were with Him before the world was. That’s when He
put our names in the Book of Life making us just as eternal as
He is. That is eternal life. Somebody might say, “You can lose
eternal life.” No, you can’t. If God gives your soul eternal life,
that’s what it means, eternal. Eternal means, ‘lasting or existing
forever, without end or beginning.’ Somebody might ask,
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“How old are you, Brother Ben?” Well, very shortly I will be 76
years old. But in God I am just as old as God and just as young
as God, because He made me part of Him when He sent the Holy
Spirit into me and quickened that seed that He put in me before
foundation of the world. And here I am today with eternal life!
I can’t die. Those that went by the grave didn’t die; they just
went on ahead. They’re going to get up before we are changed.
So, God gives eternal life.
Watch now. Verse 12, “Therefore sprang there even of one, and
him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and
as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. These all died in
faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
and were persuaded of them, an embraced them, and confessed that they
were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” They held on to it
knowing that they would live again! In the Book of Job 19:26,
we hear Job saying, “And though after my skin worms destroy this
body, yet in my flesh I shall see God.” Whether you go by the way
of the grave or are translated, eternal life is the same. But since
there is a way to go without going through the channels of death,
I believe I will just take that way! There is much more to be said
about this plan, but I’m not going to get to it in this message. But
the seed is the Word of God, which is in us. And we can’t hear
unless we have spiritual ears. This faith comes that way. The
title again, Revelational Faith for Hearing the Promised Word for You.
See it is revelational faith; it’s the Word that God promised for
you. We can’t believe God for something else. We can’t believe
God for what they had in other ages and other times or what
they’re going to have in the tribulation period. But we can
believe God for what He has for us today. Today is the day of
Salvation; now is the accepted time.
Do you love Him with all your heart? Can you believe? And
even if we get a little shadow of doubt, we quietly say, “Lord,
help my unbelief. Take it away. Let my faith grow
exceedingly.” How does it grow exceedingly? By hearing the
2015 Revelational Faith For Hearing The Promised Word For You 23
Word of God. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
Word. And that includes reading the Word and rejoicing in
Him, and knowing that by one Spirit we are baptized into the
body of Christ. He has come back in Revelation, Chapter 10, to
make all this live for us. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing
by the Word. There is a way, as one said, that our faith may be
perfect. And we have that perfect faith, but sometimes it gets
clouded a bit; but Lord, take away those clouds. This message
of the last trumpet of God drives all the clouds away; it drives
all the doubts away where we can look at the light of the Word
and see Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Heavenly Father, we come to you praising your name, thanking you,
Lord, and appreciating you. O God, we just thank you for helping us
to see the faith, for giving us the faith, for letting us know that this is a
reality, this is not imaginary but this is a substance and it is an
evidence that we can have to claim the promises that are lying right
here before us. And there is the promise of eternal life that you have
given to us without going through the channel of death, but to be
changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. I pray you quicken
this faith in each one that hears this Word. We ask it in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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AUDIO/VIDEO SERMONS AND BOOKS
All sermons by Brother Ben Howard are recorded on Cassette
tape, CD's, DVD's, and Mp3 formats. Also, there is a collection
of published books that are available for download or by
request as well. Please feel free to visit us at our website often
as new materials are constantly being added, or write to our
postal address below.
Sound Of Liberty
7286 Hwy 53W, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534 U.S.A.
www.SoundOfLiberty.org