The Spirit And The Word by Archbishop Benson Idahosa: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

You Cannot Improve on God

There are two disciplines worth training yourself in. The first: when the power of God is present, do not let the devil be in charge. The second: if faith is to be practiced, stop the fake.

Many Christians are in trouble because they do not know the difference between faith and fake. They say, "I believe God will do it" — but inwardly they are convinced they can do it better than God.

Every time the attempt is made to improve on what God would do, the result is failure. The only time that experiment succeeds is when it ends in defeat. God must be given first and second place before anyone steps in to "help" Him — and what is discovered is that every time God is given that opportunity, He finishes it alone.

God is first and last. When He is first and He is last, there is no number left for anyone else. The reason so many fail is that they say, "God, you are in charge" — and then come back around to say, "Let me do the rest." Everything done to assist God fails.

Life is not a partnership of: you do some, I do some. That is why the song says, "Have thine own way, Lord."

In the Beginning — God

Genesis 1:1-4

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light — and there was light.

God is the Creator and was not created. He created all things and all things were made by Him. Everything was in Him before creation. Heaven and earth did not come from nothing — they came from God. If God is the beginning and He created all things in the beginning, then heaven and earth were already inside Him. He brought them out.

There is a dream in you. There is life, miracle, anointing, healing, and finances in you. No matter how vast those things are on the inside, until they are spoken forth, they will never come forth.

Light was in God. Night was in God. The firmament was in God. Everything was in God. When God said let there be — the Bible says and it was so. There are so many things inside every person that have not yet been allowed to be so.

There are millionaires sitting in poverty because they have never said, "Millions, come forth."

The Spirit and the Word Must Merge

God created everything lively. But the creation became void. Someone killed it. How did God respond? The Spirit moved. The Spirit went to assess the damage — to find out what went wrong, what killed this, who took this away. And when the Spirit moved, then God spoke.

The power of creation materializes only when the Spirit and the Word come together. It is not by might. It is not by power. It is by the Spirit — as Zechariah declared.

Consider a married couple. Before they married, children were already in existence spiritually. But those children could not come forth until the husband and wife came together. The connection produced the fruit. There are so many things inside people that remain unborn because they refuse to let the Spirit and the Word merge — because they have never said, Come forth.

No matter how spiritual a person is, if what has been conceived is not declared — it will die inside.

Joy — speak it forth. Prosperity — declare it. A husband — speak him forth. A wife — declare her. The Bible says, whatsoever you shall ask the Father in His name, He shall give it. That is limitlessness.

The Spirit Moves — Then God Speaks

When the devil turned the world into a chaotic place, the Spirit moved. But the devil never left simply because the Spirit moved. The Spirit came, assessed, and then God spoke. The spoken word called forth what already existed in the Spirit.

Everything needed in the natural is already created by God in the spiritual. A house is there. A car is there. A wife is there. A husband is there. But many come to God asking for peanuts — praying for small needs while bypassing the large ones and going to human systems for those instead. God is given the small things and the bank is trusted with the large ones. God is invoked for a headache but the doctor is called for a migraine.

Healing is in the Spirit — but it must be manifested in the natural. Power is in the Spirit — but it must be declared into the natural. Prosperity is already there — Jesus did not die so anyone could prosper; they were already prosperous in the spirit before they were born.

Prosperity is not a benefit of joining a movement. It is the inheritance of those who are in Christ.

Make God Your Beginning — Not Your Last Resort

The learned posture is this: rather than calling God when everything has failed, call Him before starting.

Jesus said, John 4:34 — He came not to do His own will but the will of Him that sent Him. Every step He took, every word He spoke, was sourced from the Father first.

Don't try first. After failing with bruises and injuries, after everything has gone wrong, then crying out to God — He says: you could have done this with a smile if you had put Me first.

Do not make God your last resort. Make Him your first resort. If He is put first, the struggle is reduced.

If God gives a vision, He makes provision. The question is never where will the money come from? The question is where did the vision come from? If the vision is from God, so is the provision.

For light to come in Genesis, light was already in existence. God said let there be and it came. In the same way, every miracle, every answer, every breakthrough is already there in the Spirit. The role of a believer is to say to the Spirit, let there be — and watch it come forth.

Speak it now. Let it be so. Millions, come forth. Healing, come forth. Success, come forth. Life, come forth. Abundance, come forth.

Father, from now I put You first and last. In my marriage, God. For my home, God. For my work, for what I need, when I do not know what to do, when I am tired, when I am weak, when I am rich, when I am poor — God first. I make You my beginning in everything. In the beginning — God. Amen.