← Dufresne Ministries Podcast
Dufresne Ministries Podcast
The Violence Of Faith, Part Two | Nancy Dufresne | Jesus the Healer Broadcast
00:27:53
Loading summary
Transcript3 lines
- [00:01]
A
Hi, I'm Nancy Dufresne. Welcome to our podcast channel. We know you'll be blessed by today's message.
- [00:09]
B
So I want to read again in Matthew, chapter 11, verse 12. I so love this passage because it's so important to faith. It says, from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force. So this verse is showing us that the force of faith is what he's talking about, that we take it by force. The force of faith and it defines what violence or spiritual violence is, is. Spiritual violence is a taking. God has made all things available, they are ready for the taking. If we don't take them, we won't have them. Even though they belong to us, they won't show up until we do some taking. And so the amplified says this. It says, and from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assaul. And then here it goes and describes what that is. Violent men seize it by force, which is the force of faith. As a precious prize, a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion. I guarantee you you better know these kinds of words because if you don't know them, your faith isn't doing them. Faith is not a casual half hearted appreciation. It's more than appreciation, thank God. We do appreciate what God's provided. But you can't just sit and appreciate it and think it's going to show up. There is an active taking of things. Now I want to read to you the Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. It defines violence as this to get possession of notice, not to just wait for possession of, but to get possession of. And then the second definition is to take hold of forcefully. The third definition is in spite of violent opposition, you take it. So the opposition isn't from God, it's from the devil, it's from. If I could say this, there's three things that oppose you in this world and you have to have faith exercised over all three. Number one is the flesh, number number two is the world and number three is the devil. You have to exercise your victory over those three arenas. The flesh, the world and the devil. And you know, people so many times are mindful that the devil's trying to steal from you. But can I tell you something else? Your flesh will try to steal from you. Your flesh will not want to cooperate. Your flesh will want to just lay in bed. Your flesh will want to stay in the chair. And not do anything forceful about your faith, but don't let your flesh steal from you. This is what Paul said I keep under my flesh. I keep it under. Why? Because he realized your flesh will steal from you. Just as sure as the devil wants to steal, your flesh will steal from you. And so you have to exercise a forceful faith over your flesh, over the world, the spirit of the world, just what other people are doing, just the flow of what's all around you, that's the world. The flow of what everybody else participates in, what everybody else is okay with, that's the flow of the world. But there's also the devil. And so many times people just think the devil's after them. Well, I want you to know your flesh will trip you up and the world will be a poor example for you to follow. So you have to be forceful with your faith to reach past your flesh, reach past the thinking of the world, the approach of the world, those around us, and to also reach past what the devil's trying to steal from us. So we want you to see that God has already made the blessings yours. It's not that he's trying to. He's not withholding. It's not like you have to coerce it out of his hand. Now, I want to read to you in Luke chapter 18. So go there with me, if you would. Luke, chapter 18. While you're finding that, I want to make a statement to you that is so true that people don't really realize 95% of what you receive from God. You initiated so many times people are sitting back and waiting for God to initiate provision in their life, waiting for God to initiate healing in their life. And God will allow you to go for years without your healing. He will allow you to go for years without your provision. Why? Because he's waiting for you to take it. He's authorized you. The Bible says the heaven is the Lord's, but the earth he's given to the children of men. So he's saying this. You have as much as you'll take. And if you don't have much, increase your taking. And so I just want you to know, religion, religious thinking sits back and waits for God to offer them something. But faith doesn't wait for an offer. It knows God's already provided. Faith takes. So you have to. So many people are sitting back and waiting for something to show up. What's going to show up is absolutely nothing. What you receive, 95% of what you receive, you're going to initiate. And how are you going to initiate it by taking it with your Faith. Luke chapter 18 Can I say this? It's faith that initiates your inheritance. Faith. Or let me say it this way, faith activates the inheritance. God already made yours. God initiated giving you an inheritance, but it's faith that's going to activate that inheritance. If you don't take, that inheritance will sit inactive all around your life of waiting for you to take it. But if you don't take it, that which he made yours will be inactive in your life. Luke 18:1 and I'm going to take some time and read eight verses here, and I'm going to read it out of the amplified translation. It reads this way. Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to turn coward, faint, lose heart, and give up. So know this, that by keeping your prayer life hot that it keeps you from being a quitter. It helps you to not lay down things. Now verse two he said, in a certain city there was a judge who neither reverenced and feared God, nor respected or considered man. And there was a widow in that city. Listen to these phrases. Who kept coming? Who kept coming. There was a widow in this city who kept coming to him and saying, protect and defend me, and give me justice against my adversary. And for a time he would not, so this judge would not involve himself. And later he said to himself, though I have no reverence or fear for God, nor respect or consideration for man. So notice this. It's not because he had compassion on her. It's not because he had a value and a reverence for God had none of that. I love this verse 5. This is why he started taking action in her behalf. Because this widow continues to bother me. This widow continues to bother me. What's this mean? This gal was a taker. I mean, she knew that something that belonged to her was being withheld or stolen from her. She wasn't putting up with it. Faith refuses to put up with what doesn't belong to it. Faith refuses to do without what does belong to it. So I so love the wording here. Because this unjust so this man is not a type of God because he doesn't have a reverence for God. He has no regard for people. He, in fact, he just dismisses them. But there is a woman here who won't be dismissed. That's what faith is. It turns you into someone who won't be dismissed from your blessing. So he said, this widow continues to bother me. I will defend and protect and avenge her Meaning this. I'm going to do what she tells me to do. Do you know that God is waiting for you to tell him what to do? Oh, religion chokes over a statement like that. But can I tell you this? God goes where faith puts him. When you start putting your faith in a certain direction, power starts working from that direction where you put your faith. And that's exactly what this widow woman did. She told that judge what he would do for her. I mean, now you understand he's the one in authority, but she's the one that won't be quiet. She's the one who won't quit coming. So notice this, because even though he had more authority than her, she had more. She had more, no quitting sense in her. She outlasted him. Her continual coming outlasted and had a greater effect than his authority. Yeah, so then he took his authority and used it for her. We have no idea that he even heard her case. We have no idea. It doesn't say that he even heard the case of her adversary. He just said, whatever she wants, give it to her, regardless of who's right or wrong. He wasn't even asking who's right or wrong. He said, because she keeps coming, I will defend her. People don't get defended because they don't come. They don't come in faith to God. They don't come and say, this is mine and I'm not letting go. You provided for me. This woman, the judge, worked for her for one reason. She's the one who kept coming. We never have any record that her adversary was there. He probably thought, the judge will hear my case and he will automatically award me the win on this case. But because we have no record that he's there, she showed up. The one who shows up wins. You have to show up with your faith. You have to show up with your worship when you show up. And I'm talking about an aggressive every day because it said she came continually. This is what a violence of faith is. It keeps coming. It keeps coming. It keeps coming. It keeps coming day after day. It has no quintessence. This is the kind of faith that gets results. I so love this, he said, because verse five. Again, because this widow continues to bother me. Listen, she wasn't mannerly. She was not regarding that he's got a judge's robe on or that he is the one over 30. She just kept coming. And he said, I will defend and protect and avenge her. Right or wrong. I'm on her side. And then I love this in the amplified. Lest she give me intolerable annoyance and wear me out by her continual coming, or at the last she come and rail on me or assault and strangle me. I love that he said, if I don't give her what she wants, all of her aggressiveness is going to be turned against me. I don't want her against me. I'll just be for her. I love this passage. Now, verse six. Then the Lord said, listen to what the unjust judge says, and will not our just God? Because, see, this judge is not a representative of God, Because God's not unjust. But Jesus said, will not our just God defend, protect and avenge his elect, his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he defer them and delay help on their behalf? I tell you, he will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. I like. Don't you like that word? Speedily. Speedily. So he's saying this. When you see that God has made something yours, he's provided it for you. Every day you keep coming and you say, that's mine, that's mine. You're not, as I said earlier, not coercing it out of the hand of God. You are taking what he made available. You're not waiting for. For the adversary to get out of your way. You're not waiting for opposition to stop. You're not waiting for harassment to stop. You reach past all of that every day and you say, this is mine. Prosperity is mine. Health is mine. Healing is mine. Victory is mine. Peace is mine. Oppression is not mine. I won't have it. Depression is not mine. I mean, every day you just become so aggressive. And I will say this, the longer you walk with God, the bolder your faith has to become. If it's not becoming bolder, you're doing without. Faith is bold. Faith is aggressive. We need to go back and reread this passage at times to say, am I doing this? Because if I'm not doing this, no wonder I don't have what I need. No wonder I'm behind financially. No wonder I have recurring health problems. No wonder I have lingering symptoms. I'm not doing that. I'm not doing what this woman said. Remember? Listen. Now I Love this. Verse 5. I gotta read it again. The judge said, because this widow continues to bother me. If you're not bothering the devil every day. Bother him? How do you bother him? By talking what God says. This judge says, I will defend and protect and avenge her, lest she give me intolerable annoyance and wear me out by her continual Coming or at the last, she come and rail and assault and strangle me. If we're not that threatening, we don't want it that bad. And Jesus is saying, this is the kind of faith you have to have. So in verse 7 again it says, and will not our just God defend, protect and avenge his elect, his chosen ones who cry to him day and night. Now, the cry is not a cry of begging. It's not a cry of unbelief. It's not a cry. It's not emotionalism. It's not a cry of manipulation. It is a cry of I will not be denied. It is a cry of faith. This belongs to me and I'm not giving up. Do you know that worship is really a cry of faith too? Father, I worship you. I thank you that you made health mine. I thank you. That provision is mine. I thank you that you blessed me with this business, therefore it shall prosper. These are the cries and that God is waiting for. And God will speedily work in behalf of. And it says, will he defer them and delay help on their behalf? Verse 8, Jesus said, I tell you, he will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. So your answer doesn't have to be long in coming. If you'll start taking this attitude and this approach, even things that have been years in coming, if you will take this attitude and take this aggressiveness, take this approach, it won't be long. Jesus said, it'll come speedily. You can speed up the manifestation by how aggressive you are. You can slow it down by being casual. Not because God is casual, but because the devil will be more assertive than you will. And so here he says he will avenge them speedily. And then the rest of verse eight says, however, when the Son of Man comes, will he find persistence in faith on the earth? The King James says, will he find faith? I like what the amplified says, will he find persistence in faith? Because this is the kind of faith that is going to be required for Jesus to come back. This is the kind of faith that when, in the times when Jesus is to come back, that people that are alive at that time, this is what their faith has to look like. That's us. That's us. This is what our faith has to look like. He's telling us this is the kind of faith that God is pleased with. It's an aggressive faith. It's a bold faith. Amen. What about the woman with the issue of blood? Part of her victory was she just didn't. She just wouldn't stay in bed, she would not get. She didn't just stay in the house. This woman had lost blood for 12 years out of her body. Can you imagine the weakness? Can you imagine physically, absolutely no energy in her body, not to mention the medical things that had been tried on her, how that would have broken down her strength, how that would have broken down her health, how that could have broken down her resolve. The thing that put her over is she just wouldn't quit. It's not because she knew all the sermons that Jesus had preached. It's not because, in fact, we have no record that she had even followed his ministry until the time we see her message, her testimony recorded. But she heard somewhere about him because she said, and the Amplified said, she kept saying, if I may but touch his garment, I shall behold. Now notice this. A woman, of course, during, under Jewish custom that if they had a flow of blood, they were not to be out in public. And by Jewish law, they could have been stoned to death for being in public. Now think about this. She succeeded, number one. She got out of her house. Some people won't get out of their house to come to church to receive. They don't feel good. I'm just going to stay home. You're not going to receive. You're not going to receive because I know this faith. Faith cannot rest on convenience. If it does, it'll go nowhere. Faith has to violate. Faith will take on what's inconvenient. This woman, she didn't just send for. Well, would you ask the preacher to come? Now, don't misunderstand me. In Book of James, we're told we can invite someone to come if we can't get up. But this woman evidently could get up enough to. She crawled. She was a crawler. Because when she got out, she said, if I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. And then what did she do? She got down beneath. She was crawling. This was the level. Her strength. We have no idea. She might have crawled out of her house. That might have been all the strength she had because that's the way she approached him. Another thing is that she had to overcome. Of course the public is there. She's been sick 12 years. Her neighbors are going to know. When you've had an extended sickness, your neighbors are going to know and they're going to know. She's out in public. She ought not be out in public. But she went past what the public may know about her. Another thing is the person who had just approached Jesus before her was Jairus. You Know what? He was the ruler of the synagogue. You know what he was? He was the one with the authority to command her to be stoned. He knew she hadn't been in the synagogue in 12 years. You know, they're not out in California. Our community is transit. People come and people go. In that day, people weren't transit the same way. People lived and stayed in a community for years. People would have known her. Jairus would have known her. Jairus would have known that she went to the synagogue and for 12 years now hadn't been and say, well, where is she? Well, she's ill. She can't come. By Jewish law, she is forbidden to come because she has a flow of blood. He would have known that. But Jairus came up and was in Jesus presence. And notice when Jesus said, who touched me? You can imagine that it says she hesitated to give her testimony. Why? Because the man who could condemn her to death was standing right by Jesus. You talk about opposition. How bad do you want it? How bad do you want it? How bad do you want it? This is the kind of faith that pleases God. I said, this is the kind of faith that pleases God. Praise the Lord. One of the stories I absolutely love. Smith Wigglesworth, of course, who was an English preacher. His ministry was strong, miracle ministry in the early half of the 1900s. He tells of the time that he was at a bus stop. And there was a woman there and her little dog. She had a small dog that had followed her from the house and was standing there by her. And they're waiting for the bus. And she says to the dog, now, honey, you need to go on home. And he would just wag his tail and rub up against her leg. Now, honey, you go on home. And you know how we talk to, you know, they're family members sometimes, you know. And so she was treating him like that. Now, honey, you go on home. And he would just wag his tail and run around her legs. And then all of a sudden, the bus pulled up. Well, see, when the bus pulls up, she's not going to be there anymore. And she doesn't want him out on his own. And so the bus pulls up and Wigglesworth was standing there watching her and said she stomped her feet and yelled, get. And when she stomped her foot and yelled, get. The dog tucked his tail and ran home. And then Wigglesworth said, without thinking, I cried out, that's the way you gotta talk to the devil. It's not like, honey, please pray for me. Oh, honey, I hope I feel better. Honey, believe with me. No, it. Stomp your foot and say, get. Get out of my life. Get off my back. Get out of my finances. You have to have a. You have to have a violence in your voice. You have to be mean and ugly about it. That's the only way I know how to say. You just have to be aggressive about it. I was thinking recently, you know, just something that was nagging at me and something that, you know, just lingering. And I said, that's it. I'm done. And there's. And I mean, that didn't just come from my mind. That came from on the inside of me. And this has to come from the inside. That stomping your foot like that woman saying, get. You know, that's it. I'm done. Because until you say, I'm done with this, that thing will just rub around your life, rub around your finances, rub around like that little dog. Rub around your body to where you have symptoms. It'll just rub there and wag its tail and act like, oh, I just, you know, I'm just so used to you. But you've got to let it know, I'm done with you. I'm done with you. Some of you who may be married or some of you who may be single, when you say, that's it, I'm done, you gotta treat them like a bad boyfriend, like a bad girlfriend, you know, if you were in a relationship and they weren't good to you, and then it dawned on you, I'm fed up. I'm fed up. And you run off, that's it, I'm done. And they try to come back. They come to your front door, they knock, they call, you go, that's it, I'm done. And every contact they try to make with you, you had the same response. No, I'm done. I'm done. That's the way you have to treat symptoms. That's the way you have to treat lack. You have to, from the inside of you, say, no, I'm done. Well, how do you be aggressive with your faith? You have to call. You have to call what belongs to you to come. It said about Abraham that he called those things which be not as though they were. I want to read to you out of passage. Let me go to Genesis, chapter 12 and verse 1, and it says here, chapter 12, Genesis, chapter 12, verse 1. It says, now the Lord had said unto Abraham, now notice this. God spoke to him, and he said, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, from thy father's house unto a land that I will show you. And I will make of thee a great nation. I will bless the and make thy name great. And thou shalt be a blessing. I will bless them that bless you. I will curse them that curse you. And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him. And look at this. Abram was 70 and 5 years old. So the first time God told him, basically, I'm going to give you a son. I'm going to give you nations. Your name is going. You're going to be a father to this. He was 75 years old. Now if we go three. Just. And let me just. If you want, for time's sake. Just three chapters later. Genesis chapter 12. Excuse me. Genesis chapter 15, verses 1 and 2. After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless? Look at this. Before, when God spoke to him, he said, I'm going to make you great. You're going to have a son. You're going to have nations under you. Three chapters later, Abram is still calling himself childless. So notice while he's 75, he's childless. Why? Because he's not saying what God told him to say. He's calling himself childless. What you call yourself is what you'll be. You call yourself sick, you'll be sick. You call yourself broke, you'll be broke. How do you have a violent faith? You change what you're calling. So then I want to go a couple chapters after that. Genesis, chapter 17, verse one. And it says, and when Abram was 90 years old and nine. So now he's 99. Listen, it's been 24 years from the first time God spoke to him. It's 99. Excuse me. 24 years later, Abraham is 99 years old. And it says, and when Abram was 90 years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram. Notice this, God spoke to him, but he didn't get it when he spoke it to him. God sees he's still calling himself childless. For 24 years, he's called himself childless. If I don't do something, he's going to end up childless, even though I already told him what to say. So God appears to him this time and tells him and comes down and says, now I'm going to have to change his name to get him talking it. So he changes his name. Within a year of changing his name, he has a child. Within one year of calling himself what God called him, he had a child. 24 years of not calling, 24 years of hearing something, knowing something, really believing something, but not calling it. For 24 years, nothing showed up. So many Christians live for years with nothing showing up. Why they haven't reverted to calling? An aggressive faith, a violent faith is one that calls it. You take it, you take it, you take it, you take it. Once you start calling, it won't take long. If you'll be like that woman who went to that unjust judge every day. She just went. She just kept going. What did Jesus say? Speedily. Speedily. It will happen. When you take that approach. I remind you, God has blessed you with everything. Keep taking it. Keep calling it. It is yours for the taking. Don't stop till all that he's made yours shows up. Amen. Hallelujah.
- [27:36]
A
We trust you've enjoyed this message. Visit us at defrainministries.org to learn of our upcoming meetings, share your testimony, become a partner or visit our online store. This program has been made possible by the friends and partners of Dufresne Ministries.