A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken: Finding Certainty in Uncertain Times

Review

• As many of you know, we began this year announcing that we would spend it focusing on the .
• For us that includes a review of the Word of Faith (or ) theology, one of the doctrines that influences our church.

The doctrine is controversial for two reasons:

1. For what it claims: that faith is the means by which we can material prosperity.
2. For who makes the claims: wealthy televangelists who brag about and display status symbols of material .

• In my last series, one of my objectives was to put all of this in .
• If your knowledge of the prosperity movement comes primarily from television hype, popular catch phrases, disgruntled Christians and internet critics, you will miss the central of those most committed to it.
• My commitment to the doctrine is not just in how I’ve interpreted Scripture, but in the impact I’ve seen it have on people’s lives—including my own.
• It has people’s lives. It has healed people’s bodies. It has secured people . It has people from physical harm.
• I know about many of these testimonies first- hand.
• But putting the prosperity doctrine in perspective is more than about highlighting the victories. It also means the disappointments.
• There is no value in skirting around the reality of disappointment and unanswered , nor in giving people false hope.
• What I will provide instead is perspective: we acknowledge life’s challenges while remaining focused on the we have in Jesus.
• My focus is on providing a basis for believing that God will intervene in our material lives.
• In fact, my original intention was to start a Word of Faith sub-series that focused on .
• However, many of you will need some mental before you hear a message on divine healing.
• You need some spiritual pre-requisites before jumping into a course.

Unshakeable Faith

• My faith is unshakeable, but it’s unshakeable not because I “trust. . .in the promises of God, but [because I trust] in the who promises” (Myles Munroe, Re-Discovering Faith, back cover).
• The key is not to seek “the blessings of God, but the God who blesses” (Myles Munroe, Re-Discovering Faith, back cover).
• Blessings can be shaken and if you look at blessings (or circumstances in general), be shaken.

Acts vs. Ways

• David was able to appreciate because He prioritized a relationship with the bless-er.

Acts 13:22

Psalm 103:1-7

• If we on what God does or does not do, we will be shaken, which means we will doubt, worry and foster unbelief.
• However, if we focus on God’s ways, that is, who He is , our faith will never be shaken because God does not change.

Only Shakeable Things Can Be Shaken

• After the reality of God, there is one other constant in life: nothing created remains the .

Hebrews 12:27-28

• Everything is shakeable. This includes our bodies, our health, our minds, our economy, our marriages, our families, our government, our health care system, and our political system.
• The only way to navigate through a season of shaking is to focus on the .

Hebrews 12:1-2

• God helps us to focus by giving us a clear object of focus: .
• Some people with good intentions attempt to achieve the promised by prosperity theology, but they fail because they do not secure what Dr. A.R. Bernard calls the “first mark of a ”:
• “A living, loving, relationship with Jesus” (A.R. Bernard)
• Jesus is the and perfecter of our faith, so if our faith does not begin and remain with Him, life’s challenges will eventually rock us to our core.
• The message begins with Jesus.
• in all aspects of our lives is made possible by being firmly rooted in Jesus.

Joshua D. Smith, Ph.D., 2020