Read Textual Sermon from Bill Winston
Faith in Action: Speaking to Your Circumstances
Remember the time I had to get my car started, and I had seen where Jesus spoke to a fig tree — and in 24 hours, it dried up. Now, in Brazil, we often go down there to preach. I go to a fig tree restaurant. That’s how big a fig tree is! There’s one tree covering that whole restaurant. They built the restaurant around the tree. Now imagine that drying up in 24 hours.
That’s got a lot to do with time, because time was never meant to rule over you — you were meant to rule over time. You were never supposed to serve time; time was supposed to serve you.
So here is Jesus speaking to this fig tree — it dried up. Then He spoke to a storm — it stopped. Then He spoke to a dead man — and he got up! And then Jesus had the nerve to say that the things He did, we shall do also — and greater works than these shall we do, because He goes to the Father.
Now, when He said that, I remembered those scriptures and said, “Hey, I’m not going to just be a hearer of this; I’m going to be a doer.”
Acting Like God Acts
Now, I have to admit — I’m being transparent now — that car wouldn’t start. It was about 50 degrees below zero windchill in Chicago. I backed off that car, got out, and looked around to see if anybody was watching, because I wasn’t used to acting like God acts. But the Word says, “As He is, so are we in this world.”
This is the meeting where you’re being stretched — you’re going back and you’re going to talk to stuff.
So what happened? I said, “Car, I’m talking to you!”
Some people laughed. I said again, “Car, I’m talking to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you start!”
Then I went in the house. You’ve got to understand that the supernatural is not always spectacular. That’s where some people miss it. I spoke to that car and commanded it to start. Then I went inside, got a cup of tea, watched a ball game for about half an hour — giving God a chance to work.
Then I came back out. I got my bags, put on my coat, because I wasn’t coming back — I was walking by faith.
Faith often puts you in a place of ridicule. Many people want to be “cool.” They don’t want anybody to laugh. But human reason and faith are on opposite sides of the line.
So what happened? I got in that car — Vroom! That’s all I needed.
Then I said, “I’m going to go point at these bills.” You see, you’ve got to go from faith to faith. If I can do that, then I can do this — and if I can do this, I can do something even greater. Keep growing!
Pretty soon, you’ll drift into the impossible — but the impossible feeds faith. Faith smiles at the impossible because you’re bigger on the inside than you are on the outside.
Faith Is Simple
You are in a class all by yourself — made in Heaven! God made you perfect. The world can’t stop storms, raise the dead, or feed five thousand. But we can, because Jesus said we would do greater works.
Faith is simple. People make it complicated. It’s like picking up the remote and clicking on the TV — you don’t know how it works, and you don’t care.
I used to fly fighters in the military. Someone once asked if I knew every system in the airplane — the hydraulics, pneumatics, and all that. I said, “Sure.” They said, “So you can fix it?” I said, “No! If I had to fix it, I wouldn’t fly it. I just know how to push the throttle forward and expect something to happen.”
That’s faith — it’s not hard. It’s simple.
“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you... God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” — Romans 12:3 (KJV)
Everyone has been given the measure of faith — the same measure. So we should be doing the same kind of works.
Faith Connects You to God’s Ability
"And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us... Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened.” — Matthew 9:27–30 (KJV)
Faith connects you with God’s ability. God’s ability is your inheritance. Faith compels God to move on your behalf.
Jesus said, “It’s not me; it’s the Father in me — He does the work.” You speak, and God performs. Your job is to believe.
Where He’s about to lead you is into Canaan — into the impossible — on purpose. If we only do what’s possible, there’s no difference between us and the world. But faith operates in the realm of the impossible.
The world is running out of answers, but we have the solution — and that solution existed before the problem. When you speak, you speak truth.
Living by Faith
God wants to show Himself strong through you. Don’t look at your background, pedigree, or race. If God said it, that settles it.
"For with God nothing shall be impossible.” — Luke 1:37 (KJV)
Everything that God leads you to has already been paid for. You’re not renting, mortgaging, or earning — you’re inheriting.
He’s taking you into battles you can’t win on your own and into places you can’t afford — because He wants to show the world who He really is, through you.
"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" — Genesis 18:14 (KJV)
Faith is the key. Faith is your servant. Faith is your currency in the Kingdom of God.
"Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat... without money and without price." — Isaiah 55:1 (KJV)
Faith will either get you the thing, or the thing that gets the thing. You don’t have to shrink your vision to what you can afford. God says, “All things are yours.”
Questions This Sermon Answers
- What does it mean to move from faith to faith?
- How can we apply faith to daily challenges like Jesus did?
- Why is the supernatural not always spectacular?
- How does faith connect us to God’s ability?
- Why does God lead us into the impossible?
- What is the relationship between faith and our destiny?
- How does speaking in faith bring results?
