FAITH, LIVING BY THE WORD AND THE HOLY SPIRIT ATC 102.

At the end of this class the student must understand the importance of walking by faith. He/she must recognize that faith for a Christian is not an option; it is a way of life. At the end of this class the student must be have come into the understanding that the Bible should be read with the attitude or mindset of doing what it says James 1:22-23. What is Faith? Heb.11: 1 Now faith is the substance things hoped for: the evidence of things not seen. It must be explained to the student that faith involves: Believing the Word of God and acting in accordance with that belief. Faith is not faith if anyone of the two is missing. Faith is active; it can be seen in our actions Luke 5:18-20. Why Must We Live by Faith Because God commands us to Hab.2:4; Rom. 1:17; Gal 3:11 It is only faith that pleases God and we were created to please Him.Heb. 11:6;Rev. 4:11. It is only by faith that we can have access to the mountain moving power of God. Mark 11:22-26. It is only when in faith that we have a guarantee of receiving answer to our prayers. James.1:6-8. How Do We Get Faith? By being born again. Once we are born again we have the measure of faith. Rom 12:3. By hearing the Word of God Rom.10:17. God has ordained that through faith we can beat the devil all the time. In order to get results by faith, we must be very intimate with God through His Word. We must get Scriptures on faith through which we can beat the devil all the time. In order to get results by faith, we must

be very intimate with God through his Word. We must get scriptures concerning any situation or challenge we face, meditate upon such Scriptures and confess (speak out) those Scriptures aloud, to ourselves and at every opportunity. As we do that, faith continues to grow in our hearts until we have enough faith power to overcome or win in the situation or challenge. LIVING BY THE WORD OF GOD. A person is a Christian because hes living by Gods Word not because he goes to Church or engages in Church activities. Man is a tripartite being. He is a spirit; he has a soul and lives in a body. When a man gets saved (Born Again), his spirit becomes new and so is alive to God. But it is expected that as he studies the Word his mind gets changed Rom. 12:2 and it is then seen in his actions Matt. 7:16. In Eph. 6:17, the Word of God is called the sword of the Spirit, it is a weapon against the enemy. Also the Word of God is living and active (Heb.4:12) and that is why in Gen.1:1 when the earth was formless and empty and God spoke the Word there was a change. The Bible says faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17. A servant of God once said that you couldnt feed on junk and have treasure. The Word of God dwells in you richly. Col.3: 16. The student should be encouraged to start studying the Bible from the book of John and also a daily Bible guide like Everyday with Jesus or Daily Bread. THE HOLY SPIRIT. Text: John 16:5-15, John 14:25-26.

Introduction: This teaching about the Holy Spirit is to help you to understand and to know; 1. Who the Holy Spirit is. 2. To know that He wants to dwell in you and empower you. 3. And how you can receive Him, because He is a gift from God to you and everyone who would accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. i) Who is the Holy Spirit? Gen. 1:1-2, Isaiah 11:1-2 The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. that is, God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. He was involved in the work of creation in the beginning. He is not a dove, light, water, fire, cloud, oil etc. all of these and more are only symbols by which He is known, or uses as a form of expression to carry out His work. He is also known as the. a) The Spirit of the Lord b) The Spirit of Wisdom c) The Spirit of Understating d) The Spirit of Counsel e) The Spirit of Mighty f) The Spirit of Knowledge g) The Spirit of Fear of God. He was the same one who enabled Jesus to do all that he did when he was here on earth. He wants to work in you and through you. ii) He Wants To Dwell In You and Upon You: John 14:25-26, John 16:8,13-15, 1 John 2:20,27. a). Dwell in you He is the invisible manifestation of Jesus on the inside of you. He makes Jesus a reality to you became born again. He is the Spirit that convicts of sins, of righteousness and of judgment. He is

the Spirit of Truth. He will teach you all things (Counselor). He will guide you. (Guidance), helper etc. He came to dwell in you to help you conform to the image of Jesus Christ. So that you can become like Him in conduct and character. b). Empower you Acts. 1:8, Isaiah 61:1-3. Apart from dwelling in you. The Holy Spirit also comes upon you to empower you for service. To become a witness for Jesus Christ. He empowers you to over come Satan and sin. He also empowers you to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, to cast demons, heal the sick and set the captives free. iii) How You Can Receive Him? Luke 11:9-13, Isaiah 55:1, Acts 2:1-4 God loves you and He want to baptize you with His spirit. He has already given you the Holy Spirit as a gift to help you while you are still living here on earth and you can receive Him by a simple act of faith. 1) Desire to have Him 2) Ask the father in Jesus Name 3) Believe you have received 4) Release yourself to Him i.e. open, your mouth and begin to pray by faith in tongue with hand lifted up to heaven as a sign of surrender. Now that you are filled or baptized in the Holy Spirit you can now continue to pray in tongue everyday Jude 1:20. So that you can grow in your spiritual walk with God and witness for Him in great power just as the Apostles did. Questions: 1) Explain faith in your own words 2) Give three reasons with scriptural references, why we ought to live by faith. 3) How can a Christian change bad habits he/she notices in their lives? 4) What does it mean to Live by Gods Word?

5) How would you describe the Holy Spirit? 6) Where does the Holy Spirit seeks to dwell, and why? 7) How did the Holy Spirit help Jesus when he was on earth? 8) How can you receive Him? 9) What is expected of you after receiving the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking in tongues?