Foundations of the Gospel Part 2 – Lawson Perdue

Praise the Lord. Friends. Today we’re going to be talking about foundations of the gospel and specifically the subject of faith. Faith in God will change your life. If you want your reality to change in life, you need to believe this is the gospel. So open your heart and receive the Word of God. Make sure you tell your friends about this broadcast. Thanks so much and blessings. 

We’re gonna begin right where we left off there in Romans 1:16 and verse 17. And Paul makes this statement. He says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation. To everyone who believes it; to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. For therein in the gospel, the righteousness of God has been revealed from faith to faith according as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.'” So the first aspect that we talked about is, what is the gospel? Paul says, “I’m not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.” The gospel, first of all, is the good news. It’s the good news of what Jesus already has accomplished, what he’s already done in his death, burial, and resurrection, amen. That he’s already died, amen, and rose again. That we can be free from sin, that we can be free from anxiety, that we can be free from sickness, that we can be free from poverty. Jesus paid for the whole man. He says, “It’s the gospel of Christ.” He said, “It’s the power of God to salvation.” Salvation is not just talking about heaven. When we study the Greek word for salvation, that word in the Greek is the word, soteria, and it means wholeness, wellbeing, spirit, soul, and body. And it’s includes forgiveness, healing, peace, provision, and freedom. That’s what salvation includes. And so Paul says, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel, it’s the good news.” The gospel simply is the message of Jesus. He says, “I’m not ashamed of the message of Jesus.” Jesus is the messenger of the gospel, of the grace of God. We said, “The grace of God is equivalent with the gospel.” So what does that mean when we talk about grace? Well, first of all, if we study the the word grace in the Greek, it’s the word, charis, and it means divine favor, that by which we are saved in. Well see, Ephesians 2:8, the Bible says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith,” amen. “That not of yourself,” so divine favor. Secondly, it’s talking about divine influence. Strongs defines this word for charis, grace, as the divine influence on the heart, and its reflection in the life. If Jesus has affected your heart, it should affect your life. And then it means divine ability, God doing for us what we could not do for ourselves in the person of Jesus Christ when he died and rose again. In 1 Corinthians 15:10, Paul said this, he said, “I am what I am by the grace of God. And the grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, for I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” So grace simply means God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves in the person of Jesus, when he died and rose again. So when you hear the gospel preached, when you hear the grace of God preached, when you hear Jesus preached, there’s really only one of two responses that you’re gonna have. Either you’re going to believe it, or you’re gonna reject it, right? And so he says, “The gospel is the power of God to salvation, to everyone who believes it.” If you’re gonna receive the benefits of the gospel, you gotta believe them. He says, “For in the gospel, right, standing with God is revealed from faith to faith; the faith of the Jew to the faith of the Gentile, as as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith,'” by what they believe. So faith isn’t a movement, faith is a lifestyle, and we need to live the lifestyle of faith. But what does faith look like? Well, the first thing that I wanted to say about faith, and we could preach for a year on the subject of faith. I could preach forever, probably on the subject of faith. I mean, the Bible is full of examples of faith. But the foundational thing is that faith is founded in the grace of God. Faith works by love. In Galatians 5:6, Paul makes this statement, “In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith that works by love.” And the context that he’s sharing that in, he says, “Faith works when you understand the grace of God.” When you understand the goodness of God, when you understand the love of God, it’s the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. And if we go back to Galatians 5, beginning in verse two, he says this, “Behold, I, Paul, say unto you that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.” What Paul is saying is if you’re trusting your circumcision, if you’re trusting law-keeping, if you’re trusting anything except Jesus for your salvation, the gospel is not gonna profit you. And he goes on to say in verse three, “For I testify, again, to every man who is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.” If you’re gonna trust your performance, if you’re gonna trust your ability and your goodness, you’ve gotta keep the whole law. And no one has ever kept the whole law except for Jesus. And he says, “Christ,” in verse four, “Has become of no effect to you whoever of you are justified by the law, whoever of you are trusting yourself or your performance, you are fallen from grace.” When Paul makes this statement, falling from grace, he’s not talking about something that we would consider a big, black ugly sin. He’s talking about legalism. Legalism kills. Just like sin, the wages of sin is death, legalism will kill you. And so he says, “For we through the spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision.” In other words, he said, “It’s not by keeping the law, it’s not by your performance, but faith that works by love.” When you understand the grace of God, the goodness of God, the love of God, it will cause your faith to work. Praise God. The second thing is salvation comes, and we’ve already said this by grace through faith. Paul says this in Ephesians 2:8. He says, “For by grace are you saved through faith that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God.” Not by works, not by performance, lest any person should boast. He says, “For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” He says that, “God has ordained that we should walk in them.” What he’s talking about is when he says that God ordained us to walk in good works. From the foundation of the world, God had a good plan for us to walk in it, but the way that we start is by believing Jesus and receiving the grace of God and receiving salvation. Paul talks about this also in Romans 4:16, he’s talking about the promise of God. And he says this in Romans 4:16, he says, “For it,” speaking of the promise, “Is of faith that it might be by grace,” to the end, “That it might be sure to all the seed.” He says, “Not only to that which is of the law, but also to that,” he says, “To those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.” The promise works by grace through faith. Salvation works by grace through faith. So the natural response to the gospel, to the message of Jesus, to the message of grace when you hear it is to believe it. And if you don’t believe it, you can’t receive it. Paul talks about this in Romans chapter 10, turn with me to Romans chapter 10. We shared verse 15 in the last message, but we’re gonna move into verse 16 and 17. Notice what he says, “How shall they preach except they be sent. As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,” the good news, we can be at peace with God. He said that, “Bring good news of good things.” The gospel is the good news of good things. Again, it’s more than just forgiveness of sin. It’s more than just going to heaven, “I thank God that we’re going to heaven. I thank God for the hope that we have in the gospel.” Do you know what? We’re all gonna die. If Jesus tarries, we’re all gonna die. Now, there will be some people that are alive that are believers when Christ comes, and you know, immediately, they’re gonna get a glorified, immortal, eternal body. But if you die before Christ comes, did you know what? We gotta have this hope in the gospel. Paul says, “We’re of all men most miserable if we don’t have that hope.” I thank God that I had that hope, even as a young child. My dad died when I was just 17 years old. My mom and I went and found him shortly after he passed. And you know what I told my mom? I said, “Mom, dad is in heaven with Jesus.” We’re gonna serve the Lord. And you know what? I’ve pretty much done that. Glory to God. I thank God for the hope of the gospel. But listen to what he goes on to say here, he said, “It’s good news of good things.” But he says in verse 16, they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” In other words, obeying the gospel is believing the gospel. And there’s only one of two responses that you have. When you hear the good news, when you hear the message of Jesus, you either believe it and receive it, or you disobey it. You don’t believe it, praise God. I thank God that I heard the gospel at a young age. I thank God that I heard the full gospel at a young age. You know, I was born again when I was eight years old, but I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, heard the full gospel preach when I was just 14. And I started believing, praise God, that I could not only be saved, but that I could be healthy, that I could be strong, that I could have peace, that I could live a good life. You know, the full gospel was so attractive to me. My parents were having terrible marriage problems. They were about to get a divorce, right? When we started going to these Bible studies, my mom asked me if she should divorce my dad. And you know, if you’ve had a divorce, God loves you. Or if you’re in the midst of one, God loves you, but you could believe God for better. And I said, “No, let’s believe God.” You know, and my mom started believing God. My dad had terrible medical problems. And you know, my parents just lived. And you know, we just barely got by. But that’s why the gospel was so attractive to me. I thought, “Praise God. I don’t have to be sick, I don’t have to be poor, I don’t have to be defeated, but I can believe God for His promises.” And do you know what? If you’ll believe the gospel, the gospel will work for you because God has no respecter persons. He’s only a respecter of faith. And so praise God, just start believing it. And that’s what he says. He says, “They have not obeyed the gospel.” For Isaiah said, “Lord, who has believed our report.” That’s Isaiah 53:1. He’s talking about the message of Jesus, what Jesus accomplished at his death on the cross, hallelujah. So he says then, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” in verse 17. What that really says in the literal Greek, is something like this, “Faith comes by declaration and declaration by the mouth of God.” Faith comes when someone comes and declares to you, who God said that He is. Friends, I’m so glad that you’ve been with us today. I’ve been sharing on the “Foundations of the Gospel,” and the gospel will change your life. We have these teachings available, and many more, free of charge on our website at CharisChristianCenter.com, downloadable audio and downloadable video. So go to that website and check it out, blessings.

There is so much power in the spoken blessing. Things happen in the spiritual realm, when you speak the blessing. You might not see anything happening in the physical realm, but you need to speak the blessing, because things are happening in the spirit realm. There is a blessing in the congregation.

So faith is based in the grace of God. It takes the grace of God plus faith to be saved, amen. You’re not just automatically saved. You’ve gotta believe it to receive it. “For by grace, are you saved through faith that not of yourselves,” it is a gift of God, but then the promise of God. This is the third point, you’ve got to believe these things to receive them. If you don’t believe it, you’re not gonna receive it. Isaiah 7:9 says, “Surely, if you believe not, you will not be established.” If you wanna be established in the things of God, you gotta believe Him. Praise God, I’m glad that at a young age, again, I started believing, and I believed the Bible, I believed the promises of God. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith, it’s impossible to please Him. For he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” The message says this, “You must believe both that God is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.” You must believe both that God is, and that God is good. Do you really believe that God is a good God, that He wants to do some good things in your life? I believe that at a heart level. Now, what’s this look like? Well, Jesus came to show us this. And so I wanna show you in the life of Jesus, a day in the life of Jesus. Turn with me to Mark chapter five. Mark chapter five, we’re gonna start reading in verse 21. It says this, “As Jesus was passed over again by ship to the other side, many people gathered to him as he was near the sea. And behold, there came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. And when he saw him, he fell at his feet, and he besought him greatly, saying, ‘My little daughter lies at the point of death.’ And he says, ‘I pray that you would come lay hands on her that she may be healed and she will live.’ And Jesus went with him, and many people followed him and thronged him.” So undoubtedly, this ruler of the synagogue had heard how Jesus was healing the sick, how he was delivering the oppressed. And so he came to Jesus, his little daughter was sick, nearly to the point of death. “And while Jesus was going, and these people were thronging him,” it says in verse 25, “There was a certain woman who had a issue of blood. She had been bleeding from her body for 12 years. She had suffered many things of many physicians. She had spent all of her money and she was nothing better, but rather grew worse. When she heard of Jesus, she came in his presence, and this people that were thronging him behind him. When she heard of Jesus, she came,” and it says, “And she touched his garment for she said, ‘If I may but touch his clothes, I shall be whole.'” The Amplified says this, actually, I believe it’s in Matthew chapter nine’s version of the Amplified says, “She said, and she kept on saying,” it says in the King James that, “She said within herself.” You know, she had been bleeding for 12 years, undoubtedly, she was weak. People were thronging. But I could see this woman just crawling through the dirt, just saying, “If I could just touch him, if I could just touch him, if I could just touch him, if I could just touch him, if I could just touch him, if I could just touch, if I could just, if I touch.” And then she touched him, and she felt the power of God flow through her. It says, “She said, ‘If I could but touch him, I’ll be whole.’ And straight away, immediately this bleeding stopped. This blood was dried up, and she fell in her body that she was healed of that plague.” I thank God for the power of God. You know, we have one of our partners that contacted us from India and wanted me to pray for him. And so, you know, it took us a little bit. But the other day, he got ahold of us, we got ahold of him, we got tied, and I was praying for him. But as I was ministering to him and praying for him, and he had problems with his wrists and with his hands and with his shoulders, I began to feel the power of God flow through my right arm. I could feel it tingling and into my hand. And so I told him, he’s in India, and we’re here, and we’ve got him on the phone. Tanya’s right there, we’ve got the door to the office open. And you know, I’ve said, “Now, the power of God’s on you right now, you can feel the power of God. It’s in your right arm and right hand.” He said, “I feel it right now.” And as I was praying for him and ministering, I said, “Now, it’s flowing through your shoulders, and you can feel it flowing in your other shoulders.” And he said, “I feel it right now. I feel the power of God.” And we got a testimony the next day that he was already a lot better by the next day. I told him, “The power of God would be on him for a period of time.” Thank God for the power of God.

Congregation Amen.

Amen.

We were just in these meetings, you know, with Brian Clark. Brian came from our church, and we helped him plant a church in North Carolina. Then we helped him buy a church, and we were there, holding our first Charis East Coast camp meeting. And Saturday night, Max Cornell was preaching, Pastor Max that we helped start a church in Kansas City. He’s got a great church there, but he was ministering. And he was really ministering to me. But there was this man that came to church, and he was in a wheelchair. And I thought, “I wanna pray for this man.” And I didn’t know that They’d already told me about him. I didn’t know they’d said something, but I didn’t realize who it was, I don’t know people there. But at the end of the service, he came up and Max was ministering to people, and they were receiving the power of God. And I was up on the stage kinda walking and praying. And I thought, “I wanna pray for this man, but I’m not gonna pray for him unless Pastor Brian comes and ask me to pray for him.” So within two minutes, Pastor Brian came over, and he said, “Pastor Lawson, I want you to go pray for this man.” So I went there, and I went to minister to this man, and I asked me, and he was saying all the right things with his mouth, but I could tell that he was still very sick. And I said, “Now listen, I love you, but I hate this disease, and I wanna pray for you. And right now, I’m gonna pray, and I’m gonna take authority. And I cursed that disease, and then I lose the life of God to flow through him.” And even though he was saying all the right things, I knew that he needed to get out of that wheelchair. And so I just spoke to him. I said, “You know, do you wanna get outta that wheelchair?” And he said, “Yes.” I said, “Well, get up and walk.” Now, I didn’t know that he’d been on his couch for weeks. He hadn’t been up for weeks. It was a miracle to even have him at the meeting. And do you know what? He got up and started walking. And I reached my hands around him, and I was praying, and we walked across the front of the church, but it was still difficult, right? And finally, he said, “Well, you know, I need to sit down.” I said, “Okay, and then they brought his wheelchair back.” But you know, we an email the next day, and he had all this tingling and numbness in his feet, and all the numbness had left, and all the tingling had left. And I believe he’s beginning to receive a miracle, but I knew that, listen, if he’s gonna get healed, he’s gotta get moving. He’s gotta start acting on the word of God. We gotta start believing like it’s so, we need to start doing what we could not do, so on and so forth. But I thank God for the power of God. And so Jesus was ministering and she felt in her body when she touched him. Now, let’s notice what happened in the very next verse. “Jesus immediately knowing in himself, he felt the virtue of God.” He felt the goodness of God flowing out of him. Virtue means two things, goodness, but it also means power. You know, where great grace is preached, great power is released. So Jesus felt the goodness of God flowing from him, the grace of God. And he also felt the power of God flowing from him. “And he said, ‘Who touched me?’ And he looked around to see. The disciples said, ‘You know, who touched my clothes? You see the multitude thronging you. And you say, who touched me?'” Guess what, the touch of faith is different. If you believe God, He’ll set you apart from the majority.

Congregation Member Amen.

And even though these people were thronging him, they weren’t receiving a lot. But this woman said, “If I could but touch him, I’m going to be healed.” “And so Jesus sensed the power of God had flown from him. And so he looked around to see who had done the thing, but the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.” In fact, what did she do in the realm of faith? Number one, she said it, number two, she did it, number three, she received it, and number four, she told it. “She told him, and then Jesus said unto her,” and Jesus says this a lot in the gospels, right? He says, “Daughter, your faith has made you whole. Your faith has made you well, go in peace and be whole of thy plague. And while he yet spoke, there came one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, certain which said, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why do you trouble the master anymore?’ And Jesus heard the word that was spoken. And he said to the ruler of the synagogue,” notice Jesus countered words of unbelief and words with death, with words of life. And he said, “Be not afraid, only belief.” And he suffered no man to fall. When Jesus was facing a difficult problem, he didn’t bring a lot of people. He got two or three people that knew how to believe God. And so that’s what, if I’m facing a difficult problem, I’m not calling 20 or 30 or 40 people. You know what I get? Two or three people that know how to believe God. And so Jesus speaks into this situation, and he said, “Don’t be afraid. I only believe, and he suffered no man to follow him. But took Peter, James and John, his three closest, the brother of James. And he came to the house of the rule of the synagogue, and he sees the tumult, and those who are weeping and wailing greatly. And when he has come in, he said to them, ‘Why do you make all this ado and weep? For the damsel is not dead, but sleeps.'” You know, they think Jesus is crazy. It doesn’t matter what they think.

Congregation Member Yes, that’s right.

You know what, if you’re gonna take a step of faith once in a while, it’ll look like you’re crazy.

Congregation Yeah.

Amen. Smith Wigglesworth was praying for a woman, she was full of cancer. They brought her on a stretcher. He said, “Stand her up.” And he hit her in the belly, and she fell to the ground. He said, “Stand her up again.” And they stood her up again, and he hit her in the belly again, and she fell to the ground again. And said, “Stand her up again.” Some guy hollered out, “Leave her alone, you beast.” You know, most people would’ve quit right then. You know what Smith Wigglesworth said? He said, “You sit down, you take care. I know my business.”

Congregation Member Yeah.

And he hit her again, and the cancer fell out, and she was healed by the power of God. You gotta get bold enough sometimes that you know what, some religious person might criticize you, or come against you, or fight you, but you’re gonna stand up and say, “You know what? Right here, this is gonna stop. We’re gonna make a difference right now.”

Congregation Member Hallelujah.

Congregation Member Amen.

Some of you’re just so worried about what everybody thinks. That’s why we’re in the mess that we’re in in this nation because we have a bunch of these seeker-sensitive churches that are so worried about what everybody else thinks. And it’s about time that we get God-sensitive, Christ-sensitive, Holy Spirit-sensitive, and word of God-sensitive. Congregation Member Amen.

You know what? I get criticized more over preaching healing, and prosperity than anything else, but you ought to get back to reading the Bible.

Congregation Member Yeah.

And listen, I believe it, and I’m receiving it. And if you start believing, it’ll start working in your life. We’ve been talking about how faith in God will change your life. And if you need prayer today, I wanna invite you to call us here. We have trained prayer ministers, ready to receive your call right here at Charis Christian Center right now. So give us a call, we’re waiting to hear from you, blessings

Announcer Discover the life-changing power of the gospel with Pastor Lawson’s “Foundations of the Gospel” series, rooted in grace, faith, and righteousness. This teaching equips you to receive, live, and boldly proclaim the good news of Jesus. We’d like to bless you with your own digital copy of “Foundations of the Gospel,” a $15 value, free of charge. Don’t wait, download your copy today at CharisChristianCenter.com.

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