Confession #2a
We're going to continue our teaching on the subject of "Faith and Confession."
I) If you have your Bibles with you turn with me to PRO 11:3.
A) The word “PERVERSENESS” according to the Wilson’s O.T. Word Study, means “SMOOTHNESS, FLATTERY, HE THAT IS TURNED IN HIS TONGUE.”
1) This verse is telling us that those that have a turned tongue, those that speak contrary to the Word of God, those that speak out the negative, it will destroy them.
B) You may have heard people say, “What you don’t know won’t hurt you.”
1) There are some things that if you don’t know about them it could kill you.
a) Jesus said in (John 8:32) “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
(i) I take that to mean that if you don’t know the truth you will be in bondage even death.
b) (ISA 5:13) says, “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because {they have} no knowledge.”
(i) (Hos. 4:6) says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”
(ii) If you don’t have (a working) knowledge of the Word of God you’re in trouble.
2) As we already said (Proverbs 18:21) says that death and life are in the power of the tongue.
a) If you don’t have a knowledge and understanding of that, you’re going to face the consequences of it.
3) We need to get our words in line with the Word of God.
a) God’s Word conceived in our heart, then formed with the tongue and spoken out of the mouth becomes a spiritual force, which releases the ability and power of God.
(i) Where do you conceive God’s Word? In the human spirit or as the KJV says it “the heart.”
(ii) In Mark 4:1 Jesus starts teaching on the Parable of the Sower. In verse 13 He begins to explain it. Look at Mark 4:13-15 Jesus said in (Mark 4:15) "Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts."
(iii) Out of the abundance of the heart. (Mat 12:34)
C) You can also conceive and speak out other words.
1) If it’s the Devil that you’re quoting, you are releasing the power of the Devil. It’s that simple.
II) (ROM 10:17). “Faith cometh by hearing…”
A) Hearing God’s Word causes you to have faith in God and in His Word to come to you.
1) Faith is the spiritual force that is released out of your mouth when we speak the Word of God.
a) That’s why Paul said in (PHI 4:13) “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
b) Paul understood that the Word conceived inside him and spoken out of his mouth would set the course of his whole life.
B) Turn with me to Luke 17:5-6.
1) In verse 5 the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith.
a) In verse 6, I thought it was interesting that Jesus never addressed the subject of their faith being increased.
(i) But by reading what took place here we can draw some conclusions.
b) By this time the disciples have been sitting under Jesus teaching for some time now. They’ve been hearing the Word of God.
(i) And faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God.
(ii) They’ve been hearing the Word of God and so they must have had faith. In Luke 10 Jesus sent out the seventy.
c) Because Jesus did not respond to their request of increasing their faith but went on to teach them, we can draw the conclusion that Jesus was saying, “More faith isn’t what you need but you need to understand HOW FAITH WORKS.”
2) In (verse 6) Jesus begins teaching them “How faith works.”
a) The 1st thing he says is, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye MIGHT SAY...”
(i) The words “MIGHT SAY” in the Greek is “WOULD SAY.”
(ii) We’ve said this before, but Faith speaks.
b) When you’ve been sitting under the Word of God, faith comes and when it does faith will speak the Word of God.
(i) When confronted with a situation, the faith that is in your heart will cause you to speak out the Word of God.
3) Jesus went on to say in (Luke 17:6) that when you do speak out the Word of God which is motivated by faith in your heart the situation MUST CHANGE.
a) Again the King James translation says, “SHOULD OBEY YOU” but the literal Greek says, “WOULD OBEY YOU.”
C) Turn with me to JOSH 1:8.
1) Do you want to know how to make your way prosperous?
a) 1st of all you have to do things God’s way.
III) The 1st key is found in VERSE 7.
A) BE STRONG
1) It means, “to strengthen, prevail, harden, be strong, become strong, be courageous, be firm, grow firm, be resolute.” [1]
a) Deuteronomy 11:8 says, “Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;”
b) Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
c) 1 Chronicles 22:13 Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.
d) 2 Timothy 2:1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
e) Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
B) 2nd, Be VERY COURAGEOUS
1) It means, to be strong, alert, courageous, brave, stout, bold, solid, hard. [2]
a) Joshua 23:6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside therefrom to the right hand or to the left;
b) It often carries the idea that we are to be bold in the Word of God.
(i) Not to let others make you feel intimidated about who you are and what you believe.
2) In the Greek Septuagint, it means “be victorious, have a victory, i.e., conquer another,” “harden, be obstinate, i.e., have a stubborn, self-willed heart that will not change behavior or belief.” [3]
a) It means that we should not lose heart. Stay strong in the Word of the Lord.
C) 3rd The Law was not to depart from his mouth. (The Word of God.)
1) He was to talk about it (cf. Deut. 6:7).
D) 4th He was to meditate on it day and night.
1) He was to think about it (cf. Ps. 1:2; 119:97).
E) 5th He was to do everything written in it. V8 “that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein.”
1) He was to obey its commands fully and to act by it (cf. Ezra 7:10; James 1:22-25).[4]
F) Then he was making his may prosperous.
1) The word prosperous means, “to advance, make progress, succeed, be profitable. to prosper. 2b (Hiphil). 2b1 to make prosperous, bring to successful issue, cause to prosper. 2b2 to show or experience prosperity, prosper.[5]
2) Good Success is the same Hebrew word that is translated as “Prosper” at the end of Verse 7.
a) It means to deal wisely or wisely understand, act prudently, act wisely. 1b6 to prosper, have success[6]
IV) One of the main verses in confession is right here in verse 8 The key is right here in (V 8), 1st of all DON’T LET HIS WORDS DEPART from your MOUTH and DO THEM.
1) God is telling you right here to be a doer of the Word and confess them.
a) The words that you speak are more important to you than anyone else.
b) They’re going to have more affect on you than any one else.
c) The whole course of your life is changed according to your words.
V) Sometimes people wonder why Jesus had so much faith.
A) It wasn’t because He was the Son of God. He set aside all His deity when He became a man.
B) So how did Jesus get so much faith?
1) Phil 2:7
a) The word “REPUTATION” means, “1 to empty, make empty. 1a of Christ, he laid aside equality with or the form of God. 2 to make void. 2a deprive of force, render vain, useless, of no effect. 3 to make void. 3b cause a thing to be seen to be empty, hollow, false.”[7]
b) Jesus did not do the wonder and the miracles by His divine power.
c) The Amplified says, “But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being.”[8]
d) Jesus did all that he did in the power and the strength of a human being.
(i) So how did Jesus get the faith needed to get the job done?
2) Again (ROM 10:17) Says, “So then faith {cometh} by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
3) Look at JOHN 12:47-50.
a) Jesus spoke the words of His Father. When He did it caused faith to come inside of Him.
(i) (ROM 10:17) So then faith {cometh} by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
(ii) Faith that is in God’s Word gets into your spirit when you speak it or when you hear it.
(iii) That’s the spiritual force that we’re talking about.
C) I remember hearing something or reading something a while back that said, “Medical research has discovered that the part of your brain that controls your speech is connected to every nerve of your body.”
1) What you speak about yourself can affect your health.
a) The Word of God is more powerful in your life when you hear it spoken out of your mouth.
b) Words will affect you more when they are spoken out of your mouth.
D) Rom 10:9-10
1) Who is the one doing the confession? It was the individual that was getting saved.
2) Again (Matthew 12:34) says, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
a) What you speak out is what you believe.
b) And it will affect you much more if you speak out from your heart what you believe than just mimicking what you hear someone else say.
(i) Sure some faith will come if you here me preach the Word, but even more will come if you speak it out of your mouth.
c) That’s why God told Joshua in (JOSH 1:8), “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth.”
(i) If you went around speaking everything God said, you would be highly developed in the God kind of Faith.
VI) REV 12:11.
A) Who spoke? They did.
B) 1 of the commentaries that I was reading said that the definition of the word, “WORD” in this V means “THE SAYINGS OF GOD.” The Greek is the word “λόγος lŏgŏs”
1) We overcome Satan by the BLOOD OF THE LAMB and THE SAYINGS OF GOD or by SPEAKING THE WORD OF GOD.
C) I like how the Matthew Henry Commentary puts it.
1) It says that “The servant’s of God overcame Satan, By the blood of the lamb, and By the word of their testimony, WHICH IS THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, THAT IS THE WORD OF GOD, AND IT IS MIGHTY, THROUGH GOD, TO PULL DOWN STRONGHOLDS.”
a) This V says that it was “Their testimony.”
(i) It was their use of the Word of God that gave them the victory, along with the blood of Jesus.
(ii) Put God’s Word in your mouth.
D) When I looked at the definition of the word “TESTIMONY” in (Revelation 12:11) I found something very interesting.
1) The Enhanced Strong’s Concordance says that the Word “TESTIMONY” means, “What one testifies or says.”
2) But the main definition of the word “TESTIMONY” is this; “The office committed to the prophets of TESTIFYING CONCERNING FUTURE EVENTS.”
a) I like that part which says, “TESTIFYING CONCERNING FUTURE EVENTS.”
b) When we confess God’s Word we are testifying of what will be or future events.
c) For instance if I was to confess, “My God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
(i) In essence what I was saying is this, “I have a need right now, but according to the Word of God, all my needs are met. But this is what has taken place in the spirit. But as I confess God’s Word I will see it MANIFEST IN THE FUTURE.”
3) That’s exactly what the word “TESTIMONY” means in (Revelation 12:11). A 2nd definition of the word “Testimony” means, “to provide information about a person or an event concerning which the speaker has direct knowledge.”[9]
a) What is your testimony?
b) It was through their use of the Word of God that gave them the victory, along with the blood of Jesus.
(i) Put God’s Word in your mouth.
(ii) Look at Rev 12:10 The word, “Brethren” means, “Brother, any fellow man, a fellow believer, brothern in Chirst or brothern or Christian who are exalted to the same heavenly place.”
VII) Turn to Matt 4:4,7,10. This is the story about when Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by the Devil.
A) Why didn't Jesus demand for Satan to go after the first or second temptation?
1) The reason is that the Word of God spoken from the heart of the believer is a more effective weapon than simply telling Satan to go.
2) Faith in God's Word will actually bind Satan and have greater results.
a) All those things are part of the Bible and part of the authority of the believer, authority that we have over Satan.
3) But I think that Jesus was giving us a very valuable lesson here.
4) What did Jesus do here to defeat the Devil?
a) He confessed the word of God!
(i) (Ephesians 5:1) Tells us that we are to be imitators of God, as dear children. KJV
(ii) We are to do the same works of Jesus.
b) What did Jesus do? He spoke the word. (John 12:49-50)
B) PRO 3:3, “Truth” is the Word of God. Psa 45:1
1) He said in PRO 3:3 “Write them upon the table of thine heart.”
a) How are you going to write “Things, Anything” on the table of your heart (or spirit)?
(i) Peter refers to the heart being the spirit of man. (1PET 3:4)
b) (PSA 45:1) Says, “My tongue {is} the pen of a ready writer.” (KJV)
(i) (Psalm 119:11) “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” KJV
(ii) Where did he put the Word of God? In his HEART.
2) Look at ROM 10:8.
a) When you have the Word of God in your mouth it’s going to be in your heart.
(i) “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Mt 12:34)
C) JAMES 1:26
1) (NIV) (JAM 1:26) “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.”
a) The word “deceives” means “to cheat, i.e. delude: deceive.”
(i) We’re causing our spirits to be deceived by not bridling our tongue.
(ii) In other words, we’re cheating ourselves (spirits) by not confessing the Word of God.
(iii) The tongue will deceive the heart if we’re not confessing the right thing.
2) Look at JAMES 3:3-6
a) But notice in (V 3) he likens the tongue to a “BIT” in the horse’s mouth.
i. That bit can change the horse’s direction, our tongue can change out entire direction.
b. (V 4) refers to a rudder which can change an entire ship’s direction, again our tongue can change the entire direction of our life.
III. MARK 4:14
A. What is the man sowing? WORDS
1. This V is specifically talking about the Word of God.
2. The Bible calls the Word of God the INCORRUPTIBLE SEED.
a. (1PE 1:23) Says, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” (KJV)
b. Peter shows a difference between 2 kinds of seeds.
i. 1 CORRUPTIBLE and the other INCORRUPTIBLE.
c. If there is an incorruptible seed then there is a corruptible seed.
i. The incorruptible seed is the Word of God and the corruptible seed would be everything that is contrary To The Word of God.
ii. But there is a Parallel between the Word and every other word.
iii. That means that every word your speak is a seed.
iv. That doesn’t mean that you will always have the harvest of what you planted.
v. You can do things to stop the harvest. Like confessing the Word of God then, confessing the problem again.
B. MARK 4:15
1. What I wanted you to notice is that the Word is sown in the heart of man.
2. MARK 4:26-28
a. Jesus said, in (V 26) “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;” (KJV)
i. Who is the man that should cast seed into the ground?
ii. Remember words are the seeds. (V 14)
b. The Lord told Joshua, “Don’t let the word of God depart out of your mouth.”
i. You are the man that is casting the seed into the ground or the Words into the ground.
ii. Those words are going to begin to grow. Look at V 27.
C. PRO 18:21
1. Life and death are in the power of the tongue.
2. DEUT 30:19
3. Words are seeds, let’s sow the Word of God in our lives and reap the blessings.
Confession #2a
7/25/90 WED PM TFC and WOLCC 3/27/96 and WOLCC 11/10/96 Sun AM and W. O. L. C. C. Thursday, October 01, 1998. From Confession #2a,b,c,d
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[1]Strong, J. The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Test of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed. Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996. H2388.
[2]Strong, J. The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Test of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed. Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996. H553.
[3]Swanson, J. Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament). electronic ed. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997. HGK599.
cf. confer, compare
[4]Walvoord, J. F., R. B. Zuck, & Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1983-c1985.
[5]Strong, J. The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Test of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed. Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996. H6743.
[6]Strong, J. The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Test of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed. Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996. H7919.
[7]Strong, J. The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible : Showing Every Word of the Test of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurence of Each Word in Regular Order. electronic ed. Ontario: Woodside Bible Fellowship., 1996. G2758.
[8]The Amplified Bible, Containing the Amplified Old Testament and the Amplified New Testament. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1987. Php 2:7.
[9]Louw, J. P., & E. A. Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament : Based on Semantic Domains. electronic ed. of the 2nd edition. New York: United Bible societies, 1996, c1989. Vol. 1, Page 417.