Pastor Erik West: [00:00:00] How are y'all? We're not taping there tonight. We're taping, but we're not videoing, so I didn't have to brush my hair. Comb my teeth. I know what I said. I will tell one thing of myself. Years ago, uh, you ever been late for anywhere because of church? No. I'm the only one. Okay. Yeah. I remember one time I was in such a big hurry. Someone had called and I was doing this, and I was like, uh, I'll have to talk to you. And they're like, oh, you got church? And I said, yeah, and I wish you'd be going somewhere. And I was putting out a fire. And, uh, I went in real quick and I was going, um, I had spray deodorant and spray hair spray. And I put the deodorant on my hair. And I got to church. I was like, oh, my God, what is this? And they're they're both in aerosol cans, but oh, what a difference. So you can't praise the Lord with, you know, if you use enough deodorant, you know, it's just like hair spray. So I probably shouldn't have shared that, but it did happen. If you want to go there, you know we won't. We're going to just we're just going to talk out of this verse a little bit. Uh, tonight it's Ephesians one three. I know that everyone here knows that verse and, uh.
Pastor Erik West: [00:01:48] Let's give this thing a title. Let's call it a pass the blessings, please. Is that okay? Well, that concludes our service. No, no. Let's read the verse. Verse. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Amen. So what does that say? Well, it starts off with blessed or blessed be. And he tells us with every spiritual blessing. And some people have tried to make that be everything but what you need. You ever notice that you go to some churches and it means everything but what you need out of it? No, it means what you just read. Every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You said, but it's a spiritual blessing. Every blessing that comes from from the father comes through the spirit. It doesn't go to the the mind doesn't go to the body, doesn't go to the comes through the spirit first. So that would include anything and everything. Amen. There's not a healing first in the physical realm that didn't counteract with the with the spiritual first. So, um, I want to contrast the difference between, uh, the blessing of the Lord. You know, the Bible says the blessing of the Lord maketh rich and adds no sorrow to it. And I want to I want to, you know, versus this or that.
Pastor Erik West: [00:03:26] Uh, in it's not either or, but we want both of these things in our life. And I'm about to mention but I want to talk about living on a higher order and in the sense of miracles versus blessings. And how many you think we need? Both, I do, but you know, a lot of times if you just ask, a lot of people in general said, if you could have one, what would you rather have, you know, a blessing or would you rather have a miracle? And unless you go beyond that and definition, most times people say, well, you know, if I could just pick one, I'd rather have a miracle. Well, let's let's dig into that just a little bit and see if that's the answer we come up with. And in a few more minutes, uh, there's something better than needing a miracle, isn't it? Yeah. And that's being in a position that you don't need one. That's right. That was real deep one. But it's better than a better than a miracle. It's being in a position that you don't need one. And I'll just cut to the chase real quick. I'll give you my best stuff on the front end. Which is better to need money in the bank or have money in the bank? I think we conclude our service right there. Y'all are smart bunch. Um.
Pastor Erik West: [00:04:43] Miracles have always come. You can see it in throughout the word and maybe you can attest to this, I know I can. But miracles seem to show up in a in a crisis situation. When something's in crisis mode or someone's in crisis mode or, um, uh, you know, in whatever category that it would have to, you know, the crisis can be in. That's generally where miracles show up. Miracles show up around desperation. And we certainly want. Let me reiterate we're for miracles. I love miracles, don't you? We want miracles. We need miracles. But I'm talking to I'm talking to believers in Christ. Who's going to go for this thing for the long ride? How many y'all in for the long ride? Amen. Well, if we're going to be in it for the long ride, then let's let's get over into the blessed life instead of the miracle life. And we won't take my opinion on it. Let's just go straight to the word about these things and let's, let's, let's contrast the two and see what we find out about it. So miracles come across the situations and blessings come out of crisis or I'm sorry. Blessings. Uh uh, blessing. Living in the blessing. Because remember the blessing. The Lord maketh you rich and he adds no sorrow to it. The blessing of the Lord in your life can keep you out of a crisis.
Pastor Erik West: [00:06:08] A miracle, uh, will come to you in a crisis. Miracles can come in either large amounts or they can come in small amounts. Um, but generally, when you have a miracle, it's just enough. Whatever it is, say, if it's provision of any kind, the miracle generally comes in and meets that particular need. In other words, it just meets the need. And and usually it just meets your need. We'll talk more about that in a minute. Blessings are enough that you can start helping and giving to other people. But when you receive a miracle, you know, usually like the where the light bills $247.38. And if I don't have it by Thursday, they're going to turn it off and whatever. And lo and behold, you're believing God. And also the miracle comes in. It's for $247.38. He doesn't send you that. And then it doesn't usually come and you pay your neighbor next to you, but it'll take care of you. And we thank God for that. Miracles can come to people regularly. Who's in unbelief? Uh, I've, I've, I've, uh, I have, I have prayed for people. I've shared some of these things with you, so I won't reiterate them. You know, there's people who tell me, you know, I just want you to know. I don't have faith for that. I want you to know.
Pastor Erik West: [00:07:22] And they'd be almost like you try to wrestle an alligator. And I just felt duty bound to tell you. I'm trying to believe, but I don't really believe it. I know I don't really believe, and I've had 14 people pray for me, no results. So I'm trying to have faith tonight for you to lay hands on me and whatever. And you just go on and on and on and on. But, uh, miracles come even when you're sometimes in unbelief. The blessing of the Lord comes you when you're in faith. I'm contrasting just a little bit. Miracles many times are designed for sinners as advertisement. Yeah. Those of you who've been on the, um, on the mission field, you can attest to that, right? That when the gospel is preached, I mean, God will show up, show out, they say, and he'll advertise. And for miracles, a lot of times they're designed for sinners or baby Christians, baby Christians who just doesn't know. But blessings demand responsibility on our side in obedience to the Word of God. Yeah. Miracles are temporary. They last as long as the crisis does. And once the crisis has been met or the need has been met and the crisis is over, the miracle has a way of ending. And when you think about the woman, Elvin first Kings 17 and they get them.
Pastor Erik West: [00:08:49] He gets there and you know, he's he says, go make me a little cake first and bring me something to drink. She said, okay, I'll be right back. So by the way, make me a little cake. And you know the story. She said, I don't have enough for a cake. I got enough for a little handful of meal. While you was before you got here, I was gathering some sticks. We're going to have a fire. We're going to. I had this little a handful of meal, and then I'm going to make a little cake for me and my son. We're going to eat it and we're going to die. And he says, I understand. Just make me a cake first. And she's like another preacher. Oh my gosh, she says, I'm going to quit watching TBN forever. Well. That provision? I don't know exactly, but, um, your Bible, I know one of them. Some of my Bible said it lasted for a year, so it did. It did continue. But after the famine was over and it began to rain again, it was no longer needed. They could plant crops and that didn't work again. Now they was back to life as it's supposed to be. So we're we're once again, we're we want the miracles.
Pastor Erik West: [00:09:52] We're for the miracles, but we don't want to live from crisis mode to crisis mode, miracle to miracle. Uh, SOS here to SOS there and fill in the blanks. It beats not. It beats not having the miracle. So we're, you know, we're we're still for that. So you're going to see as you minister to to people who aren't born again and people who are baby Christians in Christ. And when you minister to them, uh, where you're where you will see the most miracles will not be in the church. Where you will see most miracles is when you are in the marketplace or in the street. You said, why don't we see a lot of miracles in church? Because it's supposed to be. You're supposed to be with believers. You're supposed to know who they are, and God wants us to one day graduate beyond the alphabet, get out of kindergarten and go a little bit forward. So he wants you to be able to learn for yourself and then apply the word for yourself so that not that he's mean or obstinate towards you. It's just that he wants growth for you so you can be a blessing that you don't have to have someone coming to your aid all the time so that instead of you needing help, you can be the help.
(Sound Guy): [00:11:06] Amen, Amen.
Pastor Erik West: [00:11:08] And if you just live in miracle mode all the time, you'll never be able to do that, never be able to do that. And that's the reason why a lot of churches are full of baby Christians. They got saved. They're born again, perhaps, but they've never come into the knowledge of who he is, much less who they are in him. And when you don't have that, they're always going to need someone. You see over in the book of James, you know, where it's like, uh, sometimes I get asked the question like, I've seen you pray for people, but I don't see you using an oil. I mean, in the Bible, they did use oil. And I, uh, well, yes, in the book of James, you don't see it anywhere else, do you know? So they they use oil to, you know, um, do a little study on that. What you find out is James in the book of James, he's a young pastor with a young congregation. He has people who's been living under the law all these years. Um, they're they're used to the priest tell them everything about everything. Uh, and now here they are as as baby believers. And so they're still living in the area of of the five senses all the time. You know what? They can touch, taste, hear, smell and feel and drive. I added that one anyways. But anyway, uh. And so James would take oil, which we know represents the Holy Spirit, but the oil has no healing properties to it whatsoever.
Pastor Erik West: [00:12:28] Did it? It was just representation of the spirit. But since they were so used to living in in the sensorium, the feeling realm, when James would put his hand on the oil and apply it to their body, their hair or their hair or whatever it was, the how he did it, they got to feel the oil, perhaps, and they got to feel his hand. And that helped him get there. And did you know the Lord that was okay to do it? He says, matter of fact, he told in the book of James to do it because he knew that he needed help. But how do we know you don't have to have oil? Huh? You don't have to have oil applied to you for you to be healed. And now I've had people tell me before said, I want to come, and I want you to pray for me, but would you would you anoint me with oil? And I said, I absolutely will be glad to do it. I've never had the discussion with why. The reason I don't have a discussion with them is because they asked me to do it. If it helps them, I just want them to get help. I don't need them. You know, if they haven't taken basic math. Yes. There's no need. Give them calculus or trigonometry the next morning.
Pastor Erik West: [00:13:30] Does that make sense? Usually you just go learn something and come back. Well, I probably did that in my first year of ministry, but. But try not to do that hardly as much anymore or not as frequent. So anyway, um, think about this. Uh, Peter walked on the water. How many times? Oh. Now we don't know this, but how many? I mean, this is my belief. If he would have tried it the next day, I don't think it would worked. So he did it once. I think if he'd have tried it, he would have sunk the feeding of the 5000. Uh. We see that happen twice, where Jesus fed the multitudes twice out of three and a half years of ministry. He did it twice. And the the, the feeding fed all the people who was there. But it didn't go continue to go into the all the people who didn't come to the meeting. We know that there was 12 fragments left over from the boy who brought the lunch, but it wasn't feeding the thousands of people who wasn't there. It was for the people who was there. And when it was over, it was through. But he only did that twice. That sounds like a miracle to me. And it was an awesome miracle. I would love to see that. But if the blessing had been intact, maybe they would. You know, maybe if there was a Longhorns or a steak and ale, are they? I don't know why they're staking out if they're still business.
Pastor Erik West: [00:14:59] How many ever steak in there. Come on somebody. Come on son. And, uh. But anyway, then perhaps they wouldn't have needed all that. So there's there's a miracle in order there. Uh, you think about Elijah. How many times did he outrun the chariot? What? How many times did God split the Red sea? Once. Didn't do it again. He could have done it every day if he just wanted to show out. So blessings. So, so. Miracles are temporary at best, and blessings are eternal are eternal. Miracles can counteract and contradict, and miracles will generally always override natural laws. Always. But the blessing works with the natural law. Is there. A stereo is still a miracle in the sense that everything God does a supernatural but but God works with with the laws to provide a blessing. In other words, he might work with your investments. He might work with your doctor. Whether your doctor works with him or not, he might work with him. Anyway, let me get off that. Anyway, uh. In miracles, God works for you. But in blessings God works with you. In other words, sometimes when you're praying for the sick and a miracle happens, that's that's I mean, it happens instantaneous. That's God's working with you for someone else.
Pastor Erik West: [00:16:48] Uh, you know, whether, you know, whether it's instantaneous and whether the gifts are involved or whether they're not involved, if it's instantaneous, the Holy Spirit's there, and he and he's working through you. He's working with you, but. Or for you. But in the blessing, he's working. He's working with you. In other words, the manna came. It came every day. It was a miracle. But if you started up, your miracle was over because your instruction was not to store it up. Why was that? Well, God just mean. Didn't want you to have anything in your pantry. No. He just. He's trying to show a generation of people who had been slaves all their lives that I can take care of you every day, even in the wilderness. And he was trying to teach them how to trust him. And after 400 years of slavery, they didn't know how to do that. So he was really patient and delicate and kind with them, you know, even though they were complaining that they didn't have everything that they wanted and they didn't have nothing, you know, to spread on their mantle or whatever, some mayonnaise or whatever they were. They complained and they said, let us go back to Egypt and let them beat our back, and we can have some melon. But anyway. So. So the blessing. God works with you. Miracles are a jump start.
Pastor Erik West: [00:18:04] They're designed to get you into the life of blessing. Gosh, what miracles do they? They can jump you, they can jump you, get you out of a crisis mode, and then put you into the area where you can start delivering the blessing of your life. Uh, the blessing. Ah, so the blessing of the Lord on your life, which is the favor of God in your life. It helps you be a jump start for someone else. In other words, God may have blessed you in whatever area immeasurably more than you ever have had in your life, and now you have become a conduit to be a blessing to others. And now you've affected. There's no telling how many people. Because it has a ripple effect. Yeah. When the church has increased or an evangelist has increased, the missionary has increased. Uh, you're doing more than just helping that local church. If that church is reaching out, you know, in missions or whatever they're doing. Um, you say, well, I might have wrote a check right here, and it went there, but that check is getting dispersed many different ways, and only heaven's going to really record what that check did. Why? Because the blessed of the Lord came into your life, and then you was able to to be a conduit of that. And it affected that ministry or that of, you know, that missionary or that church.
Pastor Erik West: [00:19:36] Then they was able to, um, plant that into different areas and other ministries, and it's much bigger than if you'd ever kept it and put it in a 401 K or CD or whatever, or your stock market or whatever it is. You know, I'll get off this. I'll get on it and get off real fast. I don't know that God will be really happy with us if we leave here, and we leave tons of money. And then we didn't invest it in the kingdom. He, according to the parable of the talents, he might call that a waste. He might ask you, why did you why did you leave so much? And he might ask you, why did you leave it to them? Did you know? Do they have a track record of kingdom business? No. Well, then why did you leave it to them? Well, it's my it's my kid. And that's the tough, isn't it? Yeah, but, you know, uh, you know, it's like, uh. Uh norvel Hayes used to say, um, because he was a businessman, kind of a millionaire before he went into business, and he said, how many Cadillacs can you drive at one time? He said, you ever try to drive two at one time, he said, how many stakes can you put in your mouth at one time? Anyway. Is that okay?
Pastor Erik West: [00:20:52] Okay. Um, so we can help others be a jump start. Miracles are are usually, as we said, just enough. But blessings will always keep growing. They can grow and increase as you grow and. And you increase. Think about blessings. Blessings are seed sown that will always reap more than what was sown with the miracle. You have nothing to sow, and so you have nothing to multiply. Because you had just enough. You had nothing to put into the ground. You took care of the crisis and there was nothing left over. So you have there's nothing going to be multiplied past that. But the blessing is God's plan for your life. Of the increase in overflow, it'll get way bigger than you. To me. To me, the blessing. The easiest way I can say it is Ephesians 320. Exceedingly, abundantly above all that you would ask or think. Is Second Corinthians, where it talks about some so little, some so more. Everyone can purpose in their own heart what they're going to do. But just know this, you know, less makes less and more makes more. And the amount doesn't do it. You know, you can't just throw a lot in the plate with no faith and say, well, well, I'm fixing to have a pile come back. No, no, the transaction is not money. The transaction is faith. Faith is the currency that you're spending every time you're sowing. Without faith, you're just giving. The church is thankful.
Pastor Erik West: [00:22:26] The ministry is thankful. But faith is the currency, which will depend on how it comes back and when it comes back to you. He said 0 or 30, 60, 100 fold. I'm going to get this tape myself, I don't know. Amen. Blessings will always work, even in spite of circumstances. Now let me give you some scripture so that you don't just think I'm making things up. In Luke 1310 through 17, um, we see Jesus interacting here in, uh, in his ministry, uh, and the people. Was someone who didn't really. Have to rely on a miracle. But they did. They received a miracle, but it looks like they didn't have to. But they did. And thank God he helped them. But in this is the new King James Version, Luke 13 verses ten through 17 says, now as he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, and behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity 18 years, and she was bent over, could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, he called to him and said unto him, woman, you are loose from your infirmity. And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, and said to the crowd, there are six days in which men ought to work.
Pastor Erik West: [00:24:05] Therefore come and be healed on them, and on the Sabbath day, and not on the Sabbath day. The Lord then answered him and said. You hypocrite. Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it? So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound. Whom Satan hath bound for 18 years, should she not be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath? And when he said all these things, they said, oh, I see your point. I'm wrong. Please forgive me. Oh, yeah? What was I thinking? No. All his adversaries were put to shame, and the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. So he said that Satan had bound her for 18 years, and all he said was this woman already had a legal right. Being a Jew to be healed because she's the daughter of Abraham. If for no other reason. Just because she's a daughter of Abraham. And they're saying, well, you did it on the wrong day. Jesus said, well, she's been coming here six days a week for 18 years. Looked like you would have somewhere in there you'd have worked her in, right? Don't you just love religion? I mean, they only had 18 years to go at it. And then now he does it on the wrong day. So she, uh, she apparently either did not know, uh, or she didn't receive it.
Pastor Erik West: [00:25:43] He healed her anyway. She didn't necessarily have to have a miracle because she had the privilege as a Jewish person to be. She was to know these things and believe this. And and they would pray and supposed to be healed. Now there were some Gentiles who did not have this privilege. Uh, they didn't have a covenant. And so we see here, uh, on the other side of this, we see Jesus ministering to someone who's a Gentile, that he did heal, that who didn't have the right of of this woman who was bound for 18 years. And that's in Matthew 15, verses 21 to 28. So this is a Gentile versus the Jewish woman. Verses 21 to 28. Then Jesus went from there and departed into the region of tyre, Sidon, and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to him, saying, have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David, my daughter is severely demon possessed. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, send her away, for she cries out after us. And he answered and said, I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Verse 25. Then she came and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. And he answered and said, Jesus said, it is not good to take the children's bread, which is what Helen was called, and give it to the little dogs.
Pastor Erik West: [00:27:15] So Jesus told her, and she said, yes, Lord, I know that. But even little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the master's table. And Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is your faith. Let it be to you as you desire. And the daughter was healed that very hour. So here she receives a she receives a miracle. They didn't belong to her, that if she lived. And I'm no indication that she wouldn't have. But if she lived, you know, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ and into the new covenant, this would have belonged to her as Jew as well as Gentile. So she received something that didn't actually belong to her. She she received a miracle. So he healed a Jew that had belonged to but wasn't, didn't, hadn't received. And the healed Gentile after she was called a dog, the disciples go away, and she came to Jesus. And then she, you know, just told Jesus. But I mean, you know, if I could just get a crumb of healing like a dog would get, it'd be enough. And Jesus says, he says, you know, that's great faith that he couldn't turn her away. He said, that is great faith. So notice in these, in this instance right here, that God's plan is not that we live in the miracles of Abraham. That you live in the blessing of Abraham.
Pastor Erik West: [00:28:37] There's not a Scripture says, Live in Abraham's miracles. And he had miracles. He said, live in the blessing of Abraham, right? And we know that perpetuated through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, on and on and on and to where it gets to us, which we'll look at just a moment. So there there was the perpetual blessing that God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, and and what God promised to Abraham by covenant and swore an oath. He said, and when you leave, before you leave, you bless them, you speak words over them. And he says, this covenant will go perpetually to your family. And he needed that to go forward, because that's our connection to Jesus coming to the earth. So is that a blessing? Or is that a or is that a miracle? That's the blessing in the in the, you know, in the covenant. Now, uh, if you look up the word blessing, uh, it's in the Hebrew, um, has different meanings. Uh, one of them is Barak, which is not Barack Obama. Um, I can assure you that in the Hebrew, it means favor. It means being bestowed from one to another. It means posterity. It means prosperity. In the Greek, it means favor. It means favor conferred upon a gift. Bounty. That's the blessing. Something that's that God favors us with that causes you to increase, is conferred upon you. It comes as a as a bounty.
Pastor Erik West: [00:30:22] And, uh, so blessings can come in many ways. You know, blessings can come from man to God. In other words, when we worship and praise the Lord, you know, the Bible says he inhabits our praise. We we on earth can bless the Lord. The angels will circle the throne and say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And then blessings can be from man to man. There's many instances of this. Um, Isaac blessed, uh, Jacob instead of Esau. He conferred the blessing upon him. Blessings can be from God to man, of course. Um. Give you one here. Genesis 122 and verse 28 says, And God bless Adam and Eve in the garden. And, uh, and we know what happened from there, don't we? He told them to increase and multiply. Uh, blessings, uh, are not tangible things are not blessings. The blessing of the Lord makes us rich. Not not things. You say? Well, we, uh, we we bought a new car. We got a new house, we got new clothes. That's things. But the blessing is not things. Plural. It can. It can buy things. It can purchase things. But the blessing of the Lord is is his word is his covenant. Things are the result of the blessing being blessed. If favors poured into your life. Which which releases God's power to work on your behalf. In other words, when favor is poured into your life, it just allows that blessing to work on your on your life into your life and perpetuate into other people's life.
Pastor Erik West: [00:32:09] What is the blessing for is, is the blessing for, uh, just for me? No, it's for you and for many others. Um, the blessing is a testimony. We're looking at different things, still contrasting the blessing with the miracles. Genesis one uh, 11 and 12 says, and then God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that it yields seed, the fruit tree that it yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself on the earth. And it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So we see here that the blessing is a testimony of the goodness of God towards us. I mean, why doesn't the scripture just say that God made the grass and God made the trees? Well, he did, but God doesn't just make something and go off and leave it. I'm sorry about that. Sunday when she received the offering, God didn't. Just like you're not a little wind up toy and say, love you. Hope. You hope. It turns out all right. Then he'll come check on you or I'll see you when you get up here. If God had done that, then he would. He would still need to keep making trees.
Pastor Erik West: [00:33:37] But the seed is within itself, isn't it? The power to reproduce and multiply is inherent within the seed by the commandment of God that it would increase, it would multiply. That's not that's not. Once again, what miracles do. Miracles do not inherently just increase and multiply, but they do meet the need. And I'm and we're and we want them. Yeah. I mean, you know, when you when you lay hands on someone who's blind and they see, uh, I want to do that again many times. Yeah, but I never heard about that gentleman going on than because he touched them and his eyes was open. Someone else's was, uh, some of the miracles that I've been a part of. I mean, I didn't see that it perpetuated to someone else. Now you know you can be in a service where, you know miracles begin to happen and other people's faith will rise up to a place just seeing that happen. And because of that, it could be like popcorn pop, pop pop, pop, pop. But you understand my point. I'm sure you understand my point. I'm trying to say it so many ways. We have to get one of them. It's just that the miracle is going to meet the need. And when the crisis is over, that it's over. But but if you live in a life of blessing, you live in a life of increase. Then you're living from the Word of God.
Pastor Erik West: [00:34:54] And the Word of God always produces after its own kind, because God commanded it to out of Genesis chapter one. And um, and when you think of certain scriptures like this, just, uh, this is not all of them, but this is just like I wrote some down right before I got up here. Some things just work by law, don't they? And they work by spiritual law. Like, for instance, uh, Genesis 822. Let me ask you this. Is this a miracle? Is this or is this a law? As long as the earth remains, they'll be seed time and harvest miracle or law slaw, right? How about this one? Galatians six. Whatever you, so you shall reap miracle law. Seek first the kingdom and then things will be added to you. Miracle or law? Romans eight one. The spirit of life in Christ Jesus may be free from the law of sin and death. Use the word law. Didn't he right. Romans three talks about the law of faith, not the miracle of faith. So are we always, you know, got a need, a miracle? Well, sometimes you do need a miracle. But let's don't stay that. You know, we go from miracle, a miracle or crisis to crisis. And God put, you know, fire extinguisher and another fire extinguisher and another one, another one of them. We need we need them. We want them. We're going to use them. We're going to be God for other people.
Pastor Erik West: [00:36:16] But it would be wrong for me if I'm a pastor, and that I'm only teaching people to believe God for miracles and never teach them who they are. Never. We never grow up in him and who we are in him, who what he did, what he would come, the finished work and we're always just looking for God. Please come through before Thursday or let the rapture come forth because my car payments do. That's not the will of God. And so, um, anyway, so that's what that is. So, um. We see that God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into him, and he became a living being. Was that a miracle, or was that a blessing? It's a miracle. How many more times do you do that? One time. Right and God made man and he blessed him. Once the blessing comes upon something, it gains the ability to keep producing it. In other words, would it be better to have a little money to meet your needs because the miraculous are having money in your account? You know, and then money comes into contact with God's blessing that it keeps on producing. I asked you at the beginning, would it be better to have a, you know, have no money and believe God for miracle money or to have money in the bank? Would you rather have not have money in the bank and need a miracle? Or would you rather have money in the bank and have the blessing of the Lord upon it? I know it's real simple, but so miracles are wonder are wonderful, but they don't have any seeds in themselves to keep on producing, where the blessing contains the seeds to keep it going perpetually over and over and over.
Pastor Erik West: [00:38:04] Once God's favor comes upon something, it gains the ability to have seeds and keeps producing after its own kind. Think about miracle like this. Think about something like a watermelon. Now, I mean, you have to just. This is not the way it works. But just think about if you had this big watermelon and it had no seeds in it. Both taste wonderful, may taste great, but it has no seeds in it. So once you eat, it's gone, right? But if you have a watermelon and it has, I don't know how many seeds. It's in the watermelon. I wish I looked it up. Smart, Alec. You don't. You don't know. Did you just throw that out there? Yeah, I was thinking that's way too little because I've had, like, 50 of my mouth in one bite. Sounds like you. You was eating a cantaloupe. Didn't know it. That's a little bit. He's like 73. You see? You let him out of his kingdom back there, he gets arrogant. Oh. That's funny. 73. I need to talk with the production department. See if they can snip that part of the tape.
(Sound Guy): [00:39:16] I'll see what I can do.
Pastor Erik West: [00:39:17] They want. Um.
Pastor Erik West: [00:39:24] How many?
Barbara: [00:39:24] 200 to 800.
Pastor Erik West: [00:39:26] 200 to 800. Who knew? I know he didn't. 73. 200 to 800. So if you just had a miracle, I mean, that would be like all. God, please. I want, you know, I just want watermelon. And he throws one down and you eat it and you enjoy it, but it's gone. But if you ever wanted to have some more, you need you need some watermelon seed, wouldn't you? Uh, blessings are so big that you can pass them on to your, you know, to to your family, to your children, which was a common practice in the Old Testament. And, uh, in the Old Testament, the father would not just pass on the blessing, but before they literally died or they would they would speak the blessing, remember? You think but but they knew more than people do in the New Covenant that if they didn't speak the words, it would not happen. I mean, they would be there at the deathbed. And if something were to happen and they didn't get there, they was they was horrified because the father didn't speak the blessing and over them before they passed, because it took according to that covenant, it took the father speaking verbally those words upon that child for that blessing to be perpetual into his life. Well, it doesn't work that way in our covenant. Our Lord, our Savior, our big brother, he's already pronounced it. Over your life. Now all we have to do is what? Just receive it and walk in faith by it. Amen. Uh, so God spoke to Abraham, and or God spoke to Adam, and he blessed him.
Pastor Erik West: [00:41:05] And the. And when the blessing goes out, we'll finish here. When the blessing goes out, it can't be rescinded. Because it goes out. The blessing is not or the blessing itself is not reversible. I hope you're not upset by that, but it's not reversible. Uh, when we pass on the blessing by blessing our children, God will honor that blessing. It's in line with his word and see to it that it comes to pass. But you think about Balaam, in other words. He was a backslidden prophet who was paid to curse the children of Israel. I'm sure you remember the story, but a number of 23 verse eight, they came to him and said, here's so much money. All we're asking you to do is just go over there and overlook the tribes of Israel and just and just speak a curse on them, and we'll give you this much money. And Baylor went there and he says, how can I curse? Or he said, how shall I curse? In numbers 23 eight how shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced? I mean, what else can you say about it? Numbers 23. Verse 19 and 20 said, God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the Son of man that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good? Behold, I received a commandment to bless. He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
Congregation: [00:42:40] Hallelujah!
Pastor Erik West: [00:42:41] Can I read that one more time? The. God is not a man. That he should lie. God is not a son of man. That he would. He would repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Has he spoken and will he not make it good? Verse 20. Numbers 23, 19 and 20. Behold, I have received a commandment to bless. He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. Move. The only one that could stop the blessing of God in your life is you, right? And I would suggest don't doing it. But I guess you that's free will. You can go do if you want to. Uh, one that, uh, one uh, last passage, uh, Galatians 389. This is the new King James and the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. He preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, in you shall all the nations be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. So God foresaw what he was going to do. And how did he do it? He preached the gospel. Abraham got a preview of this gospel before. There was before there was a Jesus on the earth. And he says, through you, and because of my covenant with you and the very fact that you was willing to raise your hand to take your own son, now I can bring my son. And, uh, and so it says, Abraham got to get a preview of the gospel before there was a gospel in the sense of Jesus in the New Covenant.
Pastor Erik West: [00:44:37] And so Abraham said, that's how it's going to work. He said, that's how it's going to work. And Abraham said, I believe it. And God said, oh, if you believe it, if you believe. And he said in the New Testament, or the New Covenant was to come, when people believe, we're going to call that righteousness right with me through your believing and not through your doing. They'll have righteous works, but they won't be righteous because of their works. Their their, their, their faith will produce works of righteousness. But he said in the New covenant, he said, if you believe me, he said, we're going to record that as right with God. Amen, amen, right with God. So we want to have miracles, but we want to live in the blessing. It's not either or. We can have both, but I think it just helps us to remember sometimes. Now wait a minute, how am I doing this? Are we just believing God for a miracle, or do we want to? Do we want to perpetually live in the blessing and have so much blessing that we push crisis away? How many believe in God that came just on time? Well, if you had more of whatever, then it wouldn't have came. It could be, you know, you could keep the crisis away. Amen. Amen. That help anybody other than me? Amen.
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