FOUNDATION STATEMENT: Understanding covenant and being covenant-conscious will make faith easy. It shouldn’t be hard to believe a God who cannot lie.
I. Faith comes by hearing in and hearing by the word or the covenant (Romans 10:17)
A. Hearing the word with a covenant consciousness or with a consciousness that God promised that word to you standing in blood and swearing by Himself will cause your faith to grow faster
1. Understanding covenant and being covenant minded as you hear and confess the word will take you to the place of being fully persuaded
B. Covenant faith is founded on the basis that God stood in blood, swearing by Himself, making these promises to me
1. Covenant faith is faith that is fully persuaded and totally convinced that the word of God is coming to pass
2. Covenant faith is faith that doesn’t waver or bat an eye in face of test, trial, or tribulation.
3. Covenant faith doesn’t struggle to believe, it just believes
C. The unfailing Word of the Covenant (Psalm 89:34, Matthew 24:35)
1. Luke 16:17-He didn’t stand in blood and swear by Himself where Heaven and Earth are concerned, but He did where is word is concerned
D. Fully persuaded faith won’t come without a consciousness of covenant (Gen 15:1-18)
1. God took Abraham to a place of full persuasion through covenant
2. Abraham said, “How am I going to know?” God said, “Know certainly.” – God one-upped him
II. Hope the anchor for the soul
A. If you stop expecting that God’s word will come to pass you will eventually faint and quit (Psalm 27:13 AMP)
1. Galatians 6:9 – Fainting keeps you from winning
2. It was his expectation that kept him from fainting; No matter how bad it gets you must keep expecting
B. Fainting occurs in the soul (Hebrews 12:1-3)
1. The soul – mind, will, and emotions
a. The soul is the area where the battle is won or lost
2. Ultimately the way that you think is going to determine how you feel and how you feel is going to determine the choices that you make and the choices that you make will determine the results that you get
III. The origin of the anchored soul (Hebrews 6:11-19)
A. It takes consistent, constant, never changing, faith to inherit the promise
1. You don’t inherit the promise by wavering (James 1:6-8)
2. You got 2 be diligent & get to the place where u are certain in your expectation (11)
B. When a covenant is made an oath is sworn between men & that is then end of all discussion (16); We don’t discuss what we just made an oath over
C. God wanted 2 show us the unchangeableness of his Word so he confirmed it by covenant
1. He swore by himself (13)
a. If God had ever broken the covenant he would have destroyed himself to do it
b. God can’t lie because to lie he would have to die and it’s impossible for God to die and that’s why it’s impossible for Him to lie
2. God cut covenant to show us the unchangeableness of his word
a. Because of the covenant God’s word is the end of all discussion-I don’t discuss whether or not this Word is true
3. Abraham was able to be patient, consistent, constant, committed, never changing regardless of the circumstances, not just because God said it, but because God said it and then cut covenant with Abraham swearing by Himself standing in blood
D. The two immutable things are the bread and the wine, the body and the blood
1. The bread and the wine partaken at the communion table is the final step in the covenant ceremony and once that happens the covenant had been made and its impossible for you to live and go back on that covenant
a. Hebrews 7:22 – Jesus is the guarantee of the New Covenant because he is the body and blood, the bread and the wine
b. By the body and the blood, the bread and the wine it is impossible for God to lie
E. How was Abraham able to expect that what God said was going to come to pass, when there was no human, worldly, physical reason to expect what God said was going to come to pass? (Romans 4:18)
1. With no reason to think that what God said was ever going to come to pass, Abraham kept expecting that what God said was going to come to pass
2. Heb 6:19-This hope/expectation is anchoring his soul & that’s why he received the promise, but what is enabling him 2 expect when there’s no reason to expect?
a. God stood in blood swearing those promises to Abraham and God made a covenant with him swearing by Himself
1) That’s where this expectation come from
F. Heb 6:18-My hope is the anchor for my soul, but my hope is grounded in this covenant
1. The two immutable things are the bread and the wine, the body and the blood
2. My expectation is the anchor for my mind, my will, and my emotions and my expectation comes because of my covenant
3. We should be encouraged 2 grab hold of that hope b/c we have a bloodcovenant
G. Why did God confirm what He said with a covenant? So that we could receive what He promised
1. The covenant that he cut doesn’t make what He said any more true
a. He confirmed His promise with a blood covenant so that are soul (mind, will, and emotions) could be anchored allowing us to receive from him
b. He wanted to do everything that he could do to help us receive
2. James 1:4-8 – Why does my soul have to be anchored?
a. When you haven’t fainted and continued to stand you will be perfect, entire wanting nothing
b. You have no right to even expect to receive being double-minded
IV. Covenant faith will take the blink out of your eye (Genesis 22)
A. Abraham had stood in faith for 25 years for the birth of Isaac and God had already told him that through this boy so shall your seed be
1. 3-We see no hesitation in Abraham
2. 5-Covenant faith is talking – Abraham said me and the boy will go up to worship and me and the boy will be back
B. Understanding covenant will take the second-guessing, hesitating, wavering-faith, out of your life (Hebrews 11:17-19)
1. People who understand covenant have no thought of compromise or anything else happening, but what the Word of God says
a. Abraham was stuck on, “In Isaac shall your seed be called” and he made no provisions for failure and never took the thought of plan “B”
2. Covenant faith says I don’t care what has to happen here, what God said is coming to pass in my life end of story (Hebrews 6:11)
3. People who walk in covenant faith are possessed with the promise (Romans 4:18)
C. They didn’t blink, they didn’t flinch, they didn’t bat their eye, they didn’t hesitate, the didn’t waver (Daniel 3:12)
1. This was settled when we were old enough to understand covenant-Ex 20:3, Dt 28:17
2. Don’t let the devil see you sweat
a. No matter how bad it gets, don’t blink, don’t bat an eye, don’t waver; stand uncompromisingly on your covenant promise
3. Covenant Faith is bold to say words like HE WILL/HAS and SURELY (Psalm 23, 91)
V. Standing in covenant faith (Hebrews 10:16)
A. We enter into the presence of God boldly like sin never existed
1. If He has the ability to remember the smallest detail then what makes you think that He doesn’t have the ability to forget every detail
2. Sin has been removed out of God’s sight and remembrance forever
a. In Heaven’s eyes, you’re not a forgiven sinner; In Heaven’s eyes you never sinned!
b. Remission – send away
3. Romans 1:17 –Ro 1:17 For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith]. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith. – Matthew 9
a. The righteousness of God came from faith, but then arouses & leads to more faith
B. The way of the blood
1. We enter into his presence through the blood of Jesus
2. We walk down that path of blood
C. True heart-Soft, unwavering, faith-believing (22)
1. I come from the heart not the head (mental ascent)
2. You come to God in FULL ASSURANCE of faith (22)
a. Not in full assurance of reasoning, feeling, and natural knowledge
D. 23-Covenant standing faith
1. Hebrews 4:14-16 – Hold Fast (Katecho) – Keep in memory, posses, retain, seize
2. Without wavering – Fully persuaded, with no flinching or blinking
3. I stand ankle deep in the blood of Jesus holding fast to my confession of faith – I don’t care what has to happen here for this to happen. Whatever has to happen, has to happen b/c I got a blood covenant w/ God (Eph 6-Having done all to stand)
4. I can come in fully assurance of faith w/o wavering b/c He is faithful that promised and to prove to me how faithful He is He swore by Himself standing in blood