Activating Faith For Complete Victory - Part 1 by Pastor Philip Olubakin: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Faith Comes Only by Hearing

Faith, the scriptures say, comes by hearing. There is only one way faith comes. Faith comes by hearing. It cannot be worshipped into existence. Prayer cannot produce faith. Faith is not prayed for — it is heard for.

Hebrews 4:2

For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them — but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

The same gospel preached to us was preached unto them. There is nothing wrong with the Word. The same church, the same preacher, the same microphone, the same atmosphere — the same word was preached to both groups. But in one group it did not produce. Why? Because it did not mix with faith.

Why did the word for healing produce healing for one and not another? Why did the word for prosperity produce for one and leave another unchanged? The answer is not the Word — the Word is the same. The variable is what happened to the Word after it was heard.

The Parable of the Sower — The Foundation

Mark 4:13-14

Jesus said, "Do you not know this parable? How then will you know all parables?" The parable of the sower is the foundation for every other parable. Without understanding it, no other parable can be understood.

The sower sows the word. The Word of God is the seed. And the same word sown into different soils produces different results.

Matthew 13:18 — Jesus elaborated the four different outcomes:

1. The wayside hearer — hears the word but does not understand it. Attention is the price paid for understanding. That is why they say pay attention. People can be in a church service looking forward with open eyes while their minds are entirely elsewhere. The wicked one comes and snatches what was sown in the heart before it can take root.
2. The stony ground hearer — hears with joy but has no root. The word lasts only until tribulation or persecution arises.
3. The thorny ground hearer — hears, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.
4. The good soil hearer — hears, understands, and the word produces — some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

The differentiating factor is never the Word. The Word is always good. The differentiating factor is the condition of the heart that receives it.

Finding the Answer at the Back of the Book

There is a way to think about faith like a mathematics student working toward a known answer. The answer is already written at the back of the book. The goal is not to argue with the answer — it is to find a way to work toward it.

The answer at the back of the book says: crowned with glory and reigning with Jesus forever. Satan cast into the bottomless pit. That is the answer. Work toward it. Wuru wuru to the answer.

The reason healing was not received, or prosperity did not come, is not because God did not want it. The reason is the same one the scripture identifies: the Word did not mix.

This Is a Word Month

Faith is called what it is — but at its foundation, this is a word month. Without the Word, faith has no basis. If faith is needed in any area of life, the first step is not looking for prayer points. It is looking for word points. Find out what God has said about it. Then hear it. Then hear it again.

The sower sows the word. Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase — and the increase comes when the seed takes root in a heart that hears and understands.

It is not possible to preach in realms and portals and dimensions and have anyone use it the next morning. The goal is clarity — teaching the Word in such a way that it cannot be missed — so that it can mix with faith and produce.